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Bloomberg

Singapore’s political leaders have warned of a tough road ahead after the United States unveiled sweeping global tariffs – a move described by an opposition party as scaremongering.
Prime Minister Lawrence Wong sounded the alarm, warning that the likelihood of a full-blown global trade war was growing. The city state is subject to the minimum 10 per cent universal tariff on all exports to the US, among the lowest in Southeast Asia, where other nations have countered with offers to lower their own levies in exchange for leniency from the Trump administration.
“It will spell trouble for all nations especially small ones like Singapore,” Wong said in a five-minute video posted on social media on Friday evening.
“We risk being squeezed out, marginalised and left behind.”

Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who stepped aside as prime minister in May after two decades in the job, followed with remarks of his own at a community event on Sunday.
“It’s going to affect our trade, it’s going to affect our economy, it’s going to affect our region and it’s going to affect our future,” Lee said. “It’s not good news.”
Singapore’s benchmark Straits Times Index tumbled as much as 8.7 per cent, the most since October 2008, amid a tariff-spurred global rout. The city state’s highest-ranking trade official on Thursday said Singapore would have to re-evaluate its economic forecast, which was expected to grow 1-3 per cent this year even before Trump had announced the new levies. That is down from 4.4 per cent in 2024.
“This call by the government ministers about the tariff, in my opinion, is partly to instil fear in the voter,” Tan Cheng Bock, chairman of the opposition Progress Singapore Party said on Sunday. “Don’t just make statements of this kind and scare everybody.”
Singapore is scheduled to hold a national vote within a few months, with cost-of-living pressures top of mind for citizens.
The People’s Action Party, which has ruled Singapore since the island’s independence in 1965, won 89 per cent of the parliamentary seats in its worst showing in 2020 due in part to concerns about the economy.


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Singapore

Singapore’s leaders warn over Trump tariff bombshell: ‘It’s not good news’

People walk along Queen Elizabeth Walk in Singapore. The city state is subject to the minimum 10 per cent universal tariff on all exports to the US. Photo: AFP

Singapore’s Prime Minister Lawrence Wong delivers a speech in Vietnam last month. Photo: EPA-EFE

Ahead of Trump’s tariffs, most MNCs in Singapore worry about slowdown: survey

President Donald Trump holds a chart showing the reciprocal tariffs to be imposed on US’ trade partners at the White House on Wednesday. Photo: AFP

A view of Singapore’s container terminal in Tanjong Pagar. Singapore will not impose retaliatory import duties over US President Donald Trump’s tariff move. Photo: Reuters

As a trade and financial hub, Singapore can benefit from global businesses’ supply diversification, according to an analyst. Photo: EPA-EFE 

Trump tariffs: ‘bad news for all’ as Asia hard hit by levies, amid fears of global trade war

Cargo ships are loaded with containers while docked at the port of Bangkok on Thursday. The US imposed a 36 per cent levy on Thailand. Photo: Reuters

A Samsung Electronics Vietnam factory in Bac Ninh province, Vietnam, on Thursday. The US has slapped a tariff rate of 46 per cent on Vietnam. Photo: Reuters

US President Donald Trump with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the East Room of the White House in February. Modi had proposed a fourfold increase in two-way trade to US$500 billion by 2030. Photo: dpa

Containers and cranes at the international port of Manila on Thursday. The Philippines will have one of the lowest tariff rates in the Asian region at 17 per cent. Photo: AFP

How Singapore’s opposition hopes to loosen the PAP’s 66-year grip on power

Supporters of the opposition Worker’s Party wave party flags in Hougang during the counting of votes in the 2020 general election. Photo: AFP

Supporters of Singapore’s ruling People’s Action Party display party flags and posters ahead of a general election in 2015. Photo: AFP

Singapore’s Prime Minister Lawrence Wong has acknowledged a greater desire for opposition voices. Photo: AP

Pritam Singh, secretary general of the opposition Workers’ Party, wants opposition MPs to control at least one-third of parliamentary seats in Singapore. Photo: AFP

Former WP chief Low Thia Khiang (right) speaks to Pritam Singh during a campaign walkabout ahead of the 2020 elections in Singapore. Photo: EPA-EFE

Workers’ Party MPs Louis Chua, He Ting Ru and Jamus Lim pictured on a Lunar New Year banner in Sengkang, Singapore. Photo: Jean Iau

People walk across a pedestrian bridge at the Marina Bay waterfront in Singapore. Photo: AFP

Vietnamese firms bemoan ‘absurdity’ of Trump’s higher tariff as US orders fall

Vietnamese garment workers at a factory in Ho Chi Minh City. Vietnam’s textile and other industries will face a 46 per cent tariff for exports to the US. Photo: AFP

Samsung Electronics Vietnam factory in Bac Ninh province. Vietnam faces a 46 per cent tariff rate imposed by US President Donald Trump. Photo: Reuters

News

Asia

Southeast Asia

PM Lawrence Wong warned of a rising global trade war threat, as his predecessor Lee Hsien Loong predicted long-term tariff fallout


PM Lawrence Wong warned of a rising global trade war threat, as his predecessor Lee Hsien Loong predicted long-term tariff fallout.
