US Tariff on Singapore: No Reduction, But Talks Continue

Singapore, Apr 26 (PTI) The United States is not ready to lower its 10 per cent tariff on imports from Singapore, but both countries agreed to explore deepening their economic links positively and continue to discuss the practical way forward.

In a LinkedIn post on Saturday, Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong said he had a “productive” virtual meeting with US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick to discuss the economic and business ties between the two countries.

“I noted that our bilateral trade and Singapore investments support around 350,000 American jobs, and that the US has enjoyed a consistent trade surplus with Singapore, which amounted to USD 30 billion (SGD 39.4 billion) last year,” The Straits Times quoted Gan as saying.

Gan, who is also the Trade and Industry Minister, said Lutnick acknowledged the excellent and balanced trading relationship between Singapore and the US.

“While the US is not prepared to lower its 10 per cent baseline tariff, we agreed to explore how we could deepen our economic links positively, and we will continue to discuss the practical way forward,” he said.

Gan, who also chairs the Singapore Economic Resilience Taskforce, said he welcomed Lutnick to visit Singapore and looked forward to developing the city-state's trade and investment partnership with the US.

On April 2, US President Donald Trump imposed sweeping tariffs on many countries, including a 10 per cent duty on imports from Singapore.

The Ministry of Trade and Industry on April 14 cut Singapore's growth forecast for 2025 to zero per cent from 2 per cent in the face of a US-China tariff war, with some economists warning of a possible technical recession.

Singapore is also an Asian financial hub and trading centre for multinational corporations operating across Asia, which faces the impact of US tariffs and the potential of global supply chain disruption caused by the US-China tariff war, diplomatic observers said.