Singapore’s prime minister in a strongly worded speech on Tuesday criticised the American tariff imposed on the city state by highlighting the unique trade ties binding both sides and arguing that the latest economic salvoes by US President Donald Trump were “not actions one does to a friend”.
Delivering his ministerial statement in parliament, Lawrence Wong also said Washington’s sweeping new tariffs were not a “reform” of the global trade order, but a repudiation of the very system the US once championed.
He argued that if the duties were truly reciprocal and aimed at trade surplus nations, the tariff rate for Singapore should be zero.
The US on Saturday imposed a 10 per cent tariff on all global imports into the country, which is also applicable to Singapore.
The world’s largest economy enjoyed a trade surplus of US$2.8 billion in its goods trade with Singapore in 2024, an 84.8 per cent rise from the previous year, according to data from the Office of the United States Trade Representative. Two-way trade also rose to US$89.2 billion over the period.
Wong also warned that the universal tariffs marked a profound turning point in global trade, away from rules-based globalisation and towards a more “arbitrary, protectionist and dangerous” era.
“The sense that the US had given away too much in allowing China to join the WTO; and that China competes on an unfair basis, for example, by heavily subsidising its own companies, putting up non-tariff barriers, and restricting market access to US firms. These concerns should be addressed within the WTO framework,” the prime minister said.
