US not ready to lower tariff on imports from Singapore, but agrees to explore way forward: DPM Gan

SINGAPORE - The United States is not prepared 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 April 26, Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong, who is also Trade and Industry Minister, said he had a “productive” virtual meeting with US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick on April 25 to discuss bilateral economic and business ties.

“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 (S$39.4 billion) last year,” he said.

Mr Gan added that Mr 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.

Mr Gan, who also chairs the Singapore Economic Resilience Taskforce, added that he welcomed Mr Lutnick to visit Singapore and looked forward to developing 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 kicked in on April 5. The Ministry of Trade and Industry

on April 14 cut Singapore’s growth forecast for 2025

to zero per cent to 2 per cent, from 1 per cent to 3 per cent, in the face of a US-China tariff war, with some economists warning of a possible technical recession in 2025.