Browse Data and Analysis

The Caribbean Basin region continues to experience growth, driven primarily by the steady rise in tourism, which in turn impacts consumer demand.

Following a lengthy period with a trade surplus, the U.S. trade balance with Indonesia in agricultural products began to reverse in 2021.

Indonesia, Southeast Asia’s largest economy with a population of 282 million, presents significant opportunities for U.S. exporters despite regulatory challenges, declining middle-class purchasing power, and tariff preferences granted to our major competitors.

On May 8-9, 2025, FAS Jakarta and U.S. Embassy Dili led the first agricultural trade delegation of U.S. industry groups in Timor-Leste. The delegation met with senior government officials, importers, and private industry to explore opportunities for U.S. commodities.

The 2024 U.S. Agricultural Export Yearbook provides a statistical summary of U.S. agricultural commodity exports to the world during the 2024 calendar year.

Upon request from Post, the Indonesian Quarantine Agency clarified in writing that the export timing and Prior Notice requirements take effect on June 4, 2025, via regulation 14/2024 and provided additional clarifications on the regulation.

The United States is a major trading partner with the Dominican Republic (DR). The DR is the largest economy in the Caribbean and the seventh-largest economy in Latin America. Since the Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR) went into effect for the DR in 2007, U.S. agricultural exports to the DR have increased from $1 billion in 2007 to $2 billion in 2024.

In Indonesia, the pet food market (especially for cats) has seen remarkable growth, increasing 24.5 percent to reach $237 million in 2023.

Multiple aspects of Indonesian Quarantine Authority (IQA) regulation number 14/2024 could impact U.S. agricultural exports to Indonesia.

In January 2025, the Government of Indonesia (GOI) enacted a new regulation to curb exports of palm waste products, citing that they have already exceeded the “reasonable capacity,” in the hopes of shoring up feed stock supplies for domestic cooking oil and biofuels production.

On November 18, 2024, the Government of Indonesia (GOI) issued Regulation No. 19/2024 on the Supervision of Genetically Engineered Food which updates the labeling requirements for genetically engineered (GE) products, and regulates microbial biotechnology, genome editing, and the food safety assessment of products with stacked genes

On December 16, 2024, the Government of Indonesia (GOI) announced the increase in value-added tax (VAT) from the current 11 percent to 12 percent on selected goods and services, effective January 1, 2025. In addition, a separate 12 percent luxury goods sales tax will newly be applied for luxury products intended for high-end Indonesian consumers (luxury VAT).