Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia  — Entrepreneurs who are members of the Indonesian Food and Beverage Producers Association (Gapmmi) admitted that they were concerned about the United States (US) government's move to implement a reciprocal import tariff of 32% for commodities from Indonesia.

Gapmmi General Chairman Adhi Lukman said that Indonesia and the US have established trade cooperation that is mutually beneficial to both parties.

"Indonesia and the US have established a mutually beneficial cooperation, the US is a priority export market for several superior food and beverage products from Indonesia, while the Indonesian food and beverage industry imports various industrial raw materials from the US," said Adhi in a press release, Saturday (5/4/2025).

Meanwhile, the US needs superior food and beverage products from Indonesia such as coffee, coconut, cocoa, palm oil, vegetable fats, fishery products and their derivatives. Meanwhile, Indonesia needs industrial raw materials from the US, such as wheat, soybeans and milk.

According to him, maintaining the stability and smoothness of trade relations between Indonesia and the US is very important for both countries. Gappmi identified several major impacts of these tariffs.

Import tariffs will increase the production costs of national industries that use raw materials from the US and reduce the competitiveness of Indonesian products in the international market, as well as increase the selling price of products in Indonesia.

Then, high tariffs can cause a decrease in the volume of Indonesian food and beverage product exports to the US and other export destination countries, which will have a negative impact on the performance and growth of the national industry.

Finally, declining exports could threaten jobs in Indonesia's food and beverage sector, at a time of economic downturn.

Therefore, GAPMMI urges the Indonesian government to take strategic steps to conduct diplomatic negotiations. The Indonesian government can negotiate with the US government to find a better solution and reduce the negative impact of tariffs.

In addition, the government also needs to analyze the impact of implementing tariffs comprehensively and provide policy support to the food and beverage industry to address rising production costs and maintain competitiveness.

Then the Indonesian government must also create national economic stability and maintain the stability of the rupiah exchange rate.

Gapmmi also asked the government to encourage downstreaming of the agribusiness sector industry and substitution of imported raw materials with national raw materials for possible types of commodities.

The Indonesian government also needs to maintain the domestic component level (TKDN) policy in response to the increase in the US BMI. This policy has been proven to increase demand for domestic manufactured products, especially from government spending.

The policy also provides investment certainty and can attract new investment to Indonesia. This is because many Indonesian workers work in industries whose products are purchased annually by the government. The relaxation of this policy will result in the loss of jobs and reduced investment guarantees in Indonesia.

Finally, Gapmmi asked the government to encourage export market diversification to reduce dependence on the US market.