ART US–Indonesia and the Challenge of Consistency in the National Halal Product Assurance System

ART US-Indonesia

[Surabaya, February 20, 2026] — Bilateral trade policy between the United States and Indonesia has entered a new phase following the announcement of a reciprocal tariff scheme by the U.S. Government targeting several trading partners, including Indonesia, with tariffs reaching up to 36 percent in April 2025. This policy forms part of the U.S. strategy to rebalance its trade balance and strengthen its industrial interests in the global market.

Within this context, on 19 February 2026, Indonesia and the United States officially signed the Agreement on Reciprocal Trade (ART). The agreement establishes a reciprocal tariff of 19 percent for certain products and contains various trade commitments, including provisions on market access, recognition of standards, and technical non-tariff measures that directly affect several industrial sectors.

From a public policy perspective, the ART cannot be separated from its implications for Indonesia’s Halal Product Assurance System (SJPH). Several clauses within the ART, particularly in the Specific Commitments section, regulate product certification and labeling in ways that potentially intersect with the mandate of Law No. 33 of 2014 on Halal Product Assurance, which requires all products entering, circulating, and traded in Indonesia to be halal-certified.

Article 2.9, point 1.

An analysis presented by Prof. Setiyo Gunawan of Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember highlights the potential policy misalignment between global reciprocal tariff pressures and the consistency of national halal regulations. There is a strong push to introduce non-tariff relaxations as balancing instruments. However, such relaxations risk creating legal uncertainty if they affect fundamental aspects of consumer protection, including halal obligations.

From a policy analysis standpoint, three key strategic issues warrant close attention:

1. The trade-off between market access and regulatory sovereignty, particularly when tariff pressures encourage compromises on non-tariff instruments such as certification and standards.
2. Legal certainty within the SJPH, to ensure that ART implementation does not create de facto exemptions from halal obligations.
3. Standards harmonization, given differences between Indonesian National Standards and the international standards referenced in trade agreements.

On the other hand, the ART also includes commitments to cooperation and mutual recognition mechanisms for certification bodies, which in theory can facilitate trade flows without undermining the fundamental principles of the national halal system, provided they remain within the framework of Indonesia’s halal authority.

This analysis underscores that amid rising global reciprocal tariffs, national halal policy should not be positioned as a trade barrier, but rather as a market trust instrument. Accordingly, ART implementation must be translated into firm, transparent, and evidence-based derivative policies.

Looking ahead, the Indonesian government must ensure that external pressures arising from reciprocal tariff schemes do not weaken consumer protection systems or the national halal ecosystem. Instead, the ART should be leveraged to strengthen Indonesia’s bargaining position as a global halal industry hub with regulatory certainty and credible standards.