SINGAPORE: Singapore was disappointed to be slapped with U.S. tariffs of 10% despite the wealthy Asian financial hub having a free-trade agreement and running a bilateral trade deficit with the United States, Singapore’s trade minister said on Thursday.
Singapore could take countermeasures under the free-trade agreement in force since 2004, but has chosen not to do so, trade minister Gan Kim Yong told a press conference.
“Retaliatory import duties will just add cost to our imports,” he said, noting that the government would be reviewing its economic forecasts because of the worsening situation.
Gan said Singapore will try to engage the U.S. to understand President Donald Trump’s areas of concern and see if they can be resolved.
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“If there are no specific concerns, then it’s more difficult to argue or to negotiate,” he said. Singapore was hit by Trump’s 10% base tariff on imports, albeit much lower than neighbours in Southeast Asia where six countries were given tariffs of between 32% and 49%.
The U.S. had a goods trade surplus of $2.8 billion with Singapore last year, an 84.8% increase over 2023, according to the United States Trade Representative website.
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