It's not just Brazil: Indonesian "Pix" has also been in Trump's sights

In addition to the tariff hike for Brazil, last week the United States announced the opening of a trade investigation to investigate alleged unfair practices by the Brazilian government that affect the American economy, including Pix, a national payment system popular among Brazilians.

This isn't the first time, however, that US President Donald Trump has used this tactic to justify tariffs and other sanctions against countries. Recently, an Indonesian payment system, which works similarly to Pix, was also identified as a threat to US companies operating in the payments sector, such as Visa and Mastercard .

The U.S. Trade Representative's Office (USTR) published a report in May reviewing what it considers "unfair" trade relations with a number of countries, including Indonesia. One of the criticisms cited the Indonesian Quick Response Code ( QRIS ), a digital payment system launched in 2019, a year before Pix.

The U.S. government argued that the instrument had become a "concern" for American companies because it was seen as a trade barrier for Washington, a statement that supported Trump's plan to impose a 32% tariff on Indonesian goods entering the United States on April 2, the so-called "Liberation Day." This week, the two countries reached an agreement to lower that tariff to 19%.

QRIS and Pix have the same purpose: they synchronize electronic payments, via digital wallets or mobile banking services, into a single, standardized national system. From there, simply scanning a QR code completes the payment in seconds, making transactions easier and faster.

According to official data, last year alone more than 30 million small businesses and merchants across Indonesia conducted transactions via QRIS .

Perceptions for Pix: How the US Position May Affect the QRIS Payment System

Before being launched on the market, payment systems undergo rigorous international evaluation. QRIS had to align itself with global standards, the same ones adopted by Europay , Mastercard , and Visa , the three giants in the industry.

According to an article published in The Conversation , American companies are also members of the Indonesian Payment Systems Association and were aware of the development of QRIS , following the government and the central bank, although the US government report says they were not aware of the development of the system.

This "trade barrier" label used by the Americans could have direct impacts on the Asian country's economy. The Conversation 's analysis cites, for example, the potential of this US investigation, which has not yet reached a conclusion, to hinder Indonesia's partnerships with other countries.

The expansion of QRIS to commercial transactions with other nations may not progress due to this measure. Some countries, such as Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand, already allow the use of QRIS in their national payment systems.

In May, Bank Indonesia also announced that the payment system would begin operating in Japan and China starting in August. India and South Korea are also on track to implement QRIS .

Negotiation with the USA

However, the Trump administration's official position could now completely change the course of these agreements, as some of these countries do not want to create friction with the United States and seek to avoid higher tariffs.

Another potential impact of this investigation on Indonesia is that it could hinder the expansion of small Indonesian businesses into international markets, one of the priorities that led to the development of the service—to streamline the transaction process, including cross-border transactions with foreign buyers.

On Wednesday (16), Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto confirmed that he had reached an agreement with his American counterpart, Donald Trump, to reduce tariffs on the country from 32% to 19%, and said he would continue "negotiating".

"I spoke with President Trump, and after tough negotiations, we finally reached an agreement. In other words, we understand their interests, and they understand ours, and we agreed that tariffs will be reduced from 32% to 19%," Prabowo told reporters. It was not disclosed, however, whether QRIS was part of the negotiation.

Trump announced the agreement hours earlier via the social network Truth Social. He said the pact "opens the entire Indonesian market to the United States" and that American exports to the Asian country "will be free of tariff and non-tariff barriers."

It's still unclear what will happen in Brazil, which already faces the threat of a 50% tariff on imports. The similarity with Indonesia's situation suggests that the country would have more to gain by sitting at the negotiating table with Trump.

Read the full US report on practices in a number of countries that Washington considers unfair here .