Jakarta - The Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) is actively promoting stronger cooperation between the national textile industry and the United States (U.S.) through an open dialogue with Cotton USA, held at Plataran Dharmawangsa, South Jakarta, on the evening of Wednesday, April 23, 2025.

The gathering took place in a dinner format attended by key players in Indonesia’s textile industry, aiming to help balance the trade relationship between the two countries.

Chairman of Kadin Indonesia, Anindya Novyan Bakrie, emphasized that the Indonesian government's approach of engaging in negotiations rather than retaliation with the U.S. is the right path toward addressing trade imbalances.

“We believe the government’s current course—choosing to negotiate rather than retaliate—is the correct move when dealing with the U.S. They are already working on ways to address our $18 billion trade surplus and make it more balanced,” said Anindya, commonly known as Anin.

He highlighted electronics, garments, and footwear as key export commodities from Indonesia, while the U.S. has strategic interests in exporting cotton, wheat, and soybeans.

Anin also underlined the crucial role of industry players in responding to the potential shift once trade equilibrium is achieved.

“Once trade balance equilibrium with the U.S. is reached, I believe many business players will start collaborating more actively, including relocating imports from other countries to the U.S.,” Anin added.

Upcoming U.S. Trade Mission

Anin also revealed that Kadin Indonesia is preparing for an official business mission to the United States in early May, with plans to meet with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

“We want to directly explore the demand for Indonesian products and how we can scale that up. On the flip side, we also want to understand U.S. interests in products such as soybeans, wheat, cotton, dairy, and meat,” he explained.

Support from Government and Industry

Meanwhile, Bobby Gafur Umar, Kadin’s Vice Chairman for Investment, Downstreaming, and Environment, shared that President Prabowo Subianto has started paying closer attention to the domestic textile industry following recent meetings between the President and business leaders at the State Palace.

“President Prabowo acknowledged the enormous potential of Indonesia’s textile industry and expressed his intention to support it more actively. Kadin’s initiative here is part of a broader effort to revitalize the textile sector, which was once Indonesia’s pride in the 1980s,” Bobby said.

From the industry side, Jemmy Kartiwa, Chairman of the Indonesian Textile Association (API), expressed optimism about the renewed collaboration.

“Currently, U.S. cotton accounts for about 17% of our total cotton imports. There's strong potential to increase that share significantly,” Jemmy noted.

“The ideal scenario is that U.S. cotton is spun into yarn in Indonesia, turned into fabric, and manufactured into garments—qualifying for preferential tariffs. We hope to increase the import share of U.S. cotton up to 50%,” he added.

About Cotton USA

As background, Cotton USA is the global brand of Cotton Council International (CCI), which promotes U.S. cotton fiber and cotton products internationally. CCI is the export promotion arm of the National Cotton Council of America (NCC). The Cotton USA brand emphasizes high quality, service, data-driven performance, and superior U.S. cotton innovation.