Now Widodo also needs a free trade agreement (FTA) with the United States for Indonesian materials to qualify for the generous EV subsidies available under the Biden administration's Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). What it got after last week's bilateral meeting was a commitment "to develop a critical minerals action plan (...) with a view toward establishing the foundation to launch future negotiations on a critical minerals agreement". The joint statement included some pointers as to what the United States expects from that action plan in terms of environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards. A limited trade agreement on critical minerals could become an even more restricted deal if it were to apply only to non-Chinese material streams. South Korea has the advantage of having had an FTA with the United States since 2012.

---

Persons: Joko Widodo, Tesla, Widodo, Washington, Biden, Joe Manchin, Janet Yellen, Manchin, Trafigura, Emelia Sithole Organizations: Vale Tbk, U.S, Biden, GREEN, Benchmark Minerals, Australia, Greenpeace, of, Group, Minerals, Korea, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Sorowako, Indonesia's, Asian, United States, Indonesia, United, GREEN Indonesia, Philippines, Ulsan, South Korea, Morocco, South