JAKARTA - Indonesian Trade Minister Budi Santoso signed a free trade deal with the Eurasian Economic Union on December 21 at the EAEU Summit in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Russian President Vladimir Putin watched along with leaders from Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan, the five countries in the EAEU. The two sides spent two years hammering out the deal starting in 2023.

Indonesia now gets to sell to 180 million EAEU customers, while the EAEU gives Indonesia lower tariffs on 90.5 percent of its products, covering 95.1 percent of what the bloc buys from Indonesia. 

Some tariffs drop to zero right away, others go away slowly over three to 15 years. Putin said the zero-tariff list includes various types of fertilizers, chemical and petrochemical products, ferrous and non-ferrous metals, wood products, and electronics.

Budi Santoso said the Indonesia-EAEU Free Trade Agreement is not only about tariff reductions, but about building mutually beneficial and sustainable economic bridges. That means, wider access to a new market could also lift private-sector exports, expand manufacturing and services, and create jobs at home. 

He also added that the deal gives businesses clear rules and makes trade more predictable. Indonesian companies selling palm oil, shoes, textiles, fish, rubber, furniture, and electronics will find it easier to compete in EAEU markets.

Chairman of the Board of the Eurasian Economic Commission Bakytzhan Sagintayev said he hopes that once this agreement is implemented, trade between our countries can double. 

Between January and October 2025, Indonesia and the EAEU traded $4.4 billion worth of goods. Indonesia sold $1.76 billion to the EAEU while buying $2.64 billion from them.

Sticking to its non-aligned foreign policy, Indonesia also previously moved to finalize the Indonesia–EU Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) after more than a decade of talks, with a signing targeted for early 2026.