Indonesian and US companies awarded $7 bln in contracts

Indonesian and American companies signed trade and investment contracts worth more than $7 billion ahead of the signing of a comprehensive trade agreement by Presidents Prabowo Subianto and Donald Trump, Reuters reports, citing the U.S.-ASEAN Business Council (USABC).

Indonesia intends to purchase soybeans, corn, wheat, cotton, and wood products from the United States. The agreements, signed at a dinner hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, include Indonesian firms purchasing 1 million tonnes of American soybeans (worth $685 million), 1.6 million tonnes of corn, and 93,000 tonnes of cotton (worth $122 million) for an unspecified period. Indonesia will also purchase 1 million tonnes of wheat this year and up to 5 million tonnes by 2030 (worth $1.25 billion).

The agreements include a memorandum of understanding between the US government, mining group Freeport-McMoRan, and the Indonesian Ministry of Investment, as well as a mining cooperation agreement, and an agreement between state-owned oil producer Pertamina and Halliburton Co. on oil production cooperation. Two semiconductor joint manufacturing agreements are also mentioned, including one worth $4.89 billion between Essence Global Group and an Indonesian partner.

The Indonesian leader arrived in Washington to attend a meeting of Trump’s Peace Council, hoping that Jakarta will be able to achieve a slight tariff reduction—to 18% from the 19% agreed upon last year.

Tags: corn, Indonesia, soybean, wheat, USA