Long before President Trump wielded tariffs as a weapon to punish Indonesia, the country was fighting back a flood of cheap Chinese goods.

Indonesia's president said U.S. counterpart Donald Trump was a "tough negotiator" after the two countries reached a trade deal that led to a reduction of proposed tariff rates to 19% from 32%.

Donald Trump said the US had reached a trade deal with Indonesia that would result in goods from the south-east Asian nation to the US being hit with a 19 per cent tariff and Jakarta buying American energy and Boeing jets.