Photo Credit: AP News https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-indonesia-joko-widodo-227d669b1a80257df7f5d262db5065cb
UPDATE: Indonesian President Widodo Met With President Biden and Promoted the Free Trade of Kratom as a Part of Indonesia’s Free Trade Agenda to Reduce Trade Barriers Between the US and Indonesia
November 14th 2023
We are excited to announce that Indonesian President Joko Widodo met with President Biden on Monday, November 14th where President Widodo made an appeal to President Biden to maintain the free trade of kratom shipped from Indonesia to the United States as a part of the trade discussions between the two countries.
US foreign policy is aligned with strengthening our trade relationships with Indonesia, except the FDA. Indonesia is an important ally in protecting US foreign policy objectives in Southeast Asia. AKA Chairman and former Congressman Matt Salmon, in his report to the Biden Administration said, “The kratom import alert directly contradicts the Biden Administration’s goals for building strong trading relationships with Indonesia to offset the aggressive efforts by China to undermine U.S. objectives in the South Pacific region, and to promote strong climate policies.”
However, the FDA has been too concerned with their own misguided crusade to ban kratom than to worry about the global impact of their actions, let alone the impact on millions of kratom consumers within their own country. We are hopeful that the joint appeal by the Indonesian government and AKA’s Chairman Matt Salmon will motivate the Biden Administration to halt the FDA’s abuse of power and end their de facto ban.
President Widodo has expressed an interest in receiving a US Delegation to Indonesia to finalize the right trade policy on kratom, including the lifting of the current import alert on kratom.
Here is a link to the press release issued by the AKA:
Indonesian President Widodo Met With President Biden and Promoted the Free Trade of Kratom
