Indonesia seeks 0 percent US tariff on palm oil, mirroring Malaysia

Indonesia is pushing for negotiations with the United States to reduce palm oil tariffs to 0 percent, as agreed between the United States and Malaysia. “This (palm oil tariff negotiations) is still ongoing. Hopefully, in the discussions, we can at least reach a consensus similar to Malaysia,” the ministry’s Acting Director General of Agro-Industry, Putu Juli Ardika, noted on Wednesday. This statement relates to Malaysia’s successful bid to reduce import tariffs to the United States from 25 percent to 19 percent, as stipulated in the recently signed reciprocal tariff agreement with the US. Malaysian leading products such as palm oil, rubber products, wood products, aviation components, and pharmaceutical products were exempted by the US from the 19 percent tariff, or reduced to a 0 percent tariff-free. Therefore, Ardika conveyed Indonesia’s expectation in securing a comparable outcome in negotiations with the United States. According to him, a 0 percent tariff on Indonesian palm ...