Trump modifies reciprocal tariffs ahead of deadline; rate on Singapore remains at 10%

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump announced a slew of new tariffs, including a 10 per cent global minimum and 15 per cent or higher duties for countries with trade surpluses with the US, forging ahead with his turbulent effort to reshape international commerce.

The baseline rates for many trading partners remain unchanged from the duties Mr Trump imposed in April, which may soothe investors’ worst fears after the President previously said they could even double. Yet his move to raise tariffs on Canadian goods to 35 per cent threatens to inject fresh tensions into an already strained relationship.

Most of the tariffs will take effect after midnight on Aug 7, to allow time for US Customs and Border Protection to make the necessary changes to collect the levies.

Taken together, the result will be significantly higher tariffs on goods from almost all US trading partners.

The average US tariff rate will rise to 15.2 per cent if rates are implemented as announced, according to Bloomberg Economics, an increase from 13.3 per cent – and significantly higher than the 2.3 per cent it was in 2024, before Mr Trump took office.

Major industrialised economies, including the European Union, Japan and South Korea, accepted 15 per cent duties on their products.

Mr Trump is expected to unveil separate tariffs on imports of pharmaceuticals, semiconductors, critical minerals and other key industrial products in the coming weeks.

The White House separately released a list of tariff rates on imports from several other trading partners that had yet to finalise trade frameworks as

the Aug 1 deadline neared.

The announcement brings to a close, at least for now, months of wait-and-see about how Mr Trump would set his country-based tariffs, which he billed as the centrepiece of his plan to shrink trade deficits and revive American manufacturing.

He twice delayed his so-called reciprocal tariffs, first announced in April, to allow time for negotiations, first after markets panicked and then as foreign governments bargained to get better terms from the US.

The July 31 order was signed behind closed doors without the fanfare of Mr Trump’s April tariff roll-out, which saw him brandishing placards with rates during a Rose Garden event. Since then, he has faced criticism for overpromising on trade deals after he and aides vowed to broker numerous agreements, with at least one pledging “90 deals in 90 days”.

In the end, imports from about 40 countries will face the new 15 per cent rate and roughly a dozen economies’ products will be hit with higher duties, either because they reached a deal or Mr Trump sent them a letter unilaterally setting import taxes. The latter group has the highest goods-trade surpluses with the US.

Some of them were expected, such as a 25 per cent levy on Indian exports. Others included duties of 20 per cent on Taiwanese products, 39 per cent on Swiss goods and 30 per cent on South African products. Thailand and Cambodia, two countries that were said to have struck a last-minute deal, received a 19 per cent duty, matching rates imposed on regional neighbours including Indonesia and the Philippines. Vietnam’s goods will face a 20 per cent tariff. 

Some smaller states, however, were hit with the highest rates, including Syria at 41 per cent, as well as Laos and Myanmar at 40 per cent each. 

A senior US administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told reporters on July 31 that countries were sorted into three groups: 10 per cent for those with which the US has a goods trade surplus, roughly 15 per cent for countries that reached deals or with which the US runs a modest trade deficit in goods, and higher rates for countries that did not strike deals and with which the US runs large goods deficits.

Other details are yet to come, including details on higher rates for certain exports that are transshipped, or routed through another country, the official said.

The US goods trade surplus with Singapore was US$2.8 billion (S$3.6 billion) in 2024, suggesting that Singapore’s exports to the US would receive a 10 per cent duty.

One big exclusion from this week’s deadline is China, whose tariff truce with the US expires on Aug 12. The Trump administration has signalled that this is likely to be extended. No final decision has been made but the recent US-China talks in Stockholm were positive, the official said.

Mr Trump took office pledging to implement tariffs on a scale not seen in decades. He has long argued that the duties would boost domestic manufacturing and prevent the US from getting “ripped off” by other countries.

While his tariffs are already bringing in billions in revenue for the US government, the long-term economic impact remains unclear, with critics saying they will raise costs for US consumers and businesses and exacerbate inflation. Bloomberg