WASHINGTON — President Trump announced Tuesday that he has a preliminary trade deal with Indonesia — just a week after threatening a 32% tariff on the world’s fourth-most-populous nation.

“They are going to pay 19% and we are going to pay nothing. I think it’s a good deal for both parties,” Trump told reporters on the White House lawn. 

“I spoke to their really great president [Prabowo Subianto] — very popular, very strong, smart — and we made the deal.”

Trump said “they are giving us access into Indonesia, which we’ve never had. That’s probably the biggest part of the deal.”

The president also said the Southeast Asian nation “has some great products… one of the things, as you know, they’re known for is very high-quality copper, which we will be using.”

Indonesia is the world’s third largest exporter of copper ore and is a major manufacturer of insulated wiring. 

It’s unclear if the deal features an exception for copper from Trump’s looming 50% global tariff on the metal, which is used for electrical, plumbing and other applications.

Trump previously announced trade deals in principle with the UK, China and Vietnam and a “roadmap” with India after launching a global trade war April 2 with his threat of “reciprocal” tariffs.

The UK deal exempts most British-made cars, steel and aluminum from Trump’s higher global tariffs on those goods — 25% as of the time of the deal, with steel and aluminum rates later revised upward to 50% — and applies a lower 10% rate, in exchange for pledges to facilitate US ethanol, chicken and beef sales.

Indonesia is home to nearly 290 million people and primarily exports textiles, agricultural products including palm oil and spices, and electronics such as smartphones.

Indonesia also has the world’s largest known reserves of nickel, which has important industrial uses, including for strengthening and rustproofing steel alloys and making batteries. 

Despite its size, Indonesia isn’t currently a major US trade partner, with the value of annual transactions not cracking the top-20 list of nations and ranking on par with Israel, which has a population of less than 10 million. 

The president has focused negotiations on eliminating foreign nations’ tariffs and restrictions on American-made goods and boosting US exports to those countries.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick vaguely described the Indonesia deal in a CNBC interview, saying it featured “no tariffs there [for US goods] — they pay tariffs here, switching the asymmetry.”

In Trump’s other three announced deals, baseline tariffs remained elevated over what they were before he reclaimed the White House in January — with Vietnam agreeing to a 20% tariff, the UK to 10% and China taking a temporay 30% rate pending further talks.

Each of the previously announced deals featured pledges to open foreign markets to American products. 

The average US tariff rate on foreign imports was 2.2% in 2024, according to the World Trade Organization, meaning that even post-deal rates are coming in higher than they were historically. 

Trump’s reciprocal levies are due to take effect Aug. 1 against countries that don’t make a deal — with the European Union, Japan and South Korea among the largest trading partners without an agreement.

The trade war has an overlapping effect on Trump’s effort to pressure the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates.

The central bank has refused to lower rates this year, with chairman Jerome Powell arguing the tariffs may cause inflation.

The Consumer Price Index for June, released Tuesday, showed annual inflation growing to 2.7%, complicating Trump’s effort to drive down borrowing costs, which have made it more expensive to get a business loan, home mortgage or lease on a car.