Crucial for nations to deepen trade ties amid US protectionism: SM Lee

It may be difficult for the world to return to the pre-April 2 trade landscape, he says

- Annabelle Liang and Ovais Subhani

Countries that support free trade should strengthen cooperation and work together to adapt to evolving global trade dynamics in response to the United States' increasingly protectionist stance.

This is crucial, as it may be difficult for the US and the rest of the world to return to the pre-April 2 landscape, when President Donald Trump unveiled his so-called reciprocal trade policy, said Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

The former prime minister was speaking at the Economic Society of Singapore's (ESS) annual dinner on July 15.

SM Lee noted that once tariffs are in place and new businesses emerge that rely on that protection, it becomes politically unfeasible to remove them, as these businesses, now with vested interests, will push back against any rollback.

"It will not go back to the status quo in trade policy, in economic policy. Once you make a move, you can't take it back."

He noted that former US president Joe Biden did not overturn earlier tariffs that Mr Trump imposed on China in his first term.

SM Lee said that it is unclear if the US will in the future abandon its protectionist stance, but that should not stop other countries from strengthening international cooperation among one another.

He noted that the US has taken a more narrow, bilateral and transactional view of international trade, and, while not perfect, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) framework has nonetheless enabled extensive free trade among many countries.