US-Indonesia Agreement Brings
Positive Impact to Businesses
Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia –The Indonesian and United States governments have officially agreed on a framework for negotiations on a Reciprocal Trade Agreement between the two countries.
This framework paves the way for the elimination of almost all Indonesian import tariffs on industrial, food, and agricultural products from the United States. Meanwhile, the US will reduce tariffs on Indonesian products to 19%, significantly lower than the initial 32%.
This agreement is widely considered to have a positive impact on the business world, including those related to digital trade, services, and investment.
As is known, in this agreement, Indonesia is committed to addressing barriers affecting digital trade, services, and investment. Indonesia will provide certainty regarding the ability to transfer personal data outside its territory to the United States.
According to Prof. Ahmad M. Ramli, Professor of the Faculty of Law at Padjadjaran University, the practice of cross-border transfer of personal data in the era of digital trade is inevitable. In fact, he stated that this has been happening for some time, especially the personal data of digital platform users.
“Without data transfer processes, there would be no cross-border digital services and transactions. With the Personal Data Protection Law (PDP Law), personal data transfers must be conducted on a lawful basis,” he told CNBC Indonesia on Saturday (July 26, 2025).
However, Ramli said that the agreement between Indonesia and the United States regarding this matter must be followed up with supervision, monitoring, evaluation, and enforcement of compliance with the PDP Law. This is to ensure that data transfers anywhere in the world remain accountable and legally compliant.
“Technical guidelines regarding this should be developed by the Personal Data Protection Agency. The government needs to establish this agency in accordance with the mandate of the PDP Law,” he emphasized.
He further stated that this agreement brings legal certainty to Indonesian businesses in cross-border data exchange. This will also encourage the growth of digital trade and e-commerce.
“In principle, we recognize that the US has equivalent data protection under Law 27/2022 concerning PDP,” said Prof. Ramli.
SOURCE : CNBC INDONESIA
