SINGAPORE, April 11 – A restaurant in Singapore’s Chinatown has reportedly denied responsibility for a notice claiming it would impose a 104 per cent surcharge on American diners, calling it a “malicious prank”.
The Straits Times cited a staff of Xie Lao Song restaurant on Pagoda Street saying it investigating the incident and has not ruled out lodging a police report but declined to provide further details.
“We’ve been open for over a decade. We would never do something so crass,” a worker who wished to remain anonymous told the paper.
The handwritten signs, which appeared at the restaurant’s entrance stated that Americans would be subject to the surcharge starting April 9, in apparent reference to a newly announced US tariff on Chinese goods.
The signs, written in English and Chinese and signed off with the restaurant’s name, went viral after being shared on TikTok, drawing more than 400,000 views and 1,700 comments by April 10.
The restaurant is known for Chinese cuisine such as Peking duck, spicy crayfish, and dumplings.
Online reactions were mixed, with some praising what they perceived as a patriotic stance, while others criticised the move as discriminatory.
The timing of the prank coincided with US President Donald Trump’s April 8 announcement of a 104 per cent tariff on imports from China.