SINGAPORE, April 26 — The United States is not prepared to lower its 10 per cent tariff on imports from Singapore, but both countries have agreed to explore ways to deepen their economic ties.
In a LinkedIn post today, Deputy Prime Minister and Trade and Industry Minister Gan Kim Yong said he had a “productive” virtual meeting with US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick on April 25 to discuss bilateral economic and business ties, according to The Straits Times.
“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 US$30 billion (RM131 billion) last year,” he said.
Gan added that 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 strengthening the Republic’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 which took effect on April 5.
Singapore’s Ministry of Trade and Industry on April 14 lowered the country’s 2025 growth forecast to zero per cent to 2 per cent, down from the previous estimate of 1 per cent to 3 per cent, amid the escalating US-China tariff war.
Some economists have warned that Singapore could face a technical recession in 2025.