Indonesia to offer to increase U.S. imports to help trade talks, official says

JAKARTA (Reuters) -Senior Indonesian ministers will travel to Washington to present their U.S. counterparts with offers of significantly increased U.S. imports and investment proposals as part of their negotiations to avoid hefty U.S. tariffs.

Chief economic minister Airlangga Hartarto, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati and Foreign Ministry officials will lead a delegation for negotiations after the U.S. hit Indonesian exports with a 32% tariff, which has been paused for 90 days.

They are due to meet Secretary of Commerce, Secretary of State, and Secretary of Treasury as well as the office of U.S. Trade Representative, said Airlangga.

Susiwijono Moegiarso, the senior official at the coordinating ministry for economic affairs, said a proposal to buy U.S. goods worth $18 billion to $19 billion aimed to cover the U.S. trade deficit with Indonesia.

Indonesia may also propose that state firms invest in U.S. oil, gas, and information technology sectors, said Todotua Pasaribu, the deputy minister for investment.

"Strategically, we will look what we can invest there that later we can absorb for our national interest," Pasaribu said.

Indonesia posted a $16.8 billion trade surplus with the U.S., its third-biggest export destination, last year, according to Indonesian government data, with electronics, apparel and clothing, and footwear the leading export products.

(Reporting by Stefanno Sulaiman and Ananda Teresia; Editing by John Mair)