During the Biden administration, Indonesia and the United States upgraded its bilateral relations to a comprehensive strategic partnership,[1] but exploration talks for a critical mineral FTA have stagnated due to congressional pushback from the Senate.

[4] Luhut argued that a free trade agreement would see Indonesia export its nickels to the United States to be processed and used on electric vehicles, which would make EV cars eligible for a full $7,500 tax credit under the Biden administration's Inflation Reduction Act.

[5] In January 2025, Indonesian Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto and Indonesian Minister of Trade Budi Santoso spoke to the press that the Prabowo administration was confident that Indonesia will continue to cooperate with the second Trump administration on a bilateral free trade agreement with the US despite tariff threats and congressional opposition.

[2] A bipartisan group of senators including Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Tina Smith (D-MN), John Fetterman (D-PA), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Joe Manchin (I-WV), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), and Bill Cassidy (R-LA) wrote a letter to United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai, objecting a possible Indonesia-US free trade agreement due to Indonesia's weak labor protections, dominance of Chinese firms in Indonesian mining and refining, and lack of environmental protection laws in the country.

[14] Writing to The Diplomat, Cullen Hendrix of the Peterson Institute for International Economics argued that while the name and shame tactic could help pressure the Indonesian government to improve its labor protection laws to achieve its FTA goals, he criticized the move might push Indonesia closer to China.