Singapore's US tariff rate stays at 10%, but the Republic is not out of the woods yet

Still pending are Trump's sectoral tariffs and 40% additional duty on trans-shipped goods

- Ovais Subhani

Singapore can take some solace after emerging relatively unscathed from US President Donald Trump's latest tariff assault on global trade, with its rate maintained at the baseline 10 per cent—the lowest in Asia.

But its policymakers are unlikely to get any rest until some outstanding issues gain greater clarity.

First, still pending are Mr Trump's separate sectoral tariffs he had vowed in April to impose on pharmaceuticals and semiconductors, which are among the Republic's top exports.

Second, the latest executive order released on July 31 by the White House states that goods trans-shipped to evade US tariffs shall be subject to an additional duty of 40 per cent.

Analysts suspect this duty, which will come on top of country-specific tariffs, is likely to hit many countries—including Singapore's South-east Asian trading partners such as Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam—that Washington believes are complicit in helping Chinese exporters circumvent US trade tariffs.

There is a small caveat though. The new tariff rates announced on July 31 will not go into effect on Aug 1 as previously announced. They will be implemented on Aug 7 to give the US trade authorities time to harmonise the rates.

However, given the Trump administration's back and forth on tariff rates since April 2, when the so-called reciprocal trade policy was announced, there is a small chance that some details in the July 31 order and rates for some countries might change.

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) said in a statement on Aug 1: "Based on the US' Executive Order released on 31 July (Eastern Time), Singapore will continue to be subject to a 10 per cent tariff."

MTI said it has confirmed this understanding with the Office of the US Trade Representative. "We are closely monitoring developments and will seek clarification from US counterparts as necessary," it said.