Urgent need for Singapore businesses to examine supply chain risk, says SBF

Businesses will urgently need to look at compliance, supply chain risk, and how best to engage with government officials in countries they operate in, said the Singapore Business Federation (SBF) in the wake of sweeping US tariffs that took effect over the weekend, rocking the global economy and sparking recession fears.

- Grace Leong

"They will need to re-examine their reliance on the US as a market and consider whether there are market opportunities in the region and in the trade corridors where Singapore has free trade agreements," SBF chief executive Kok Ping Soon said in a statement on April 9.

On April 9, US President Donald Trump imposed a 104 per cent tariff on Chinese goods, with Beijing retaliating on the same day by slapping on an additional 50 percentage points to bring the tariff on US goods up to 84 per cent.

To capture local businesses' concerns, SBF's Centre for the Future of Trade and Investment (CFOTI) said it will conduct a business survey on the impact of tariffs and hold workshops for them in April.

The statement added that advisers from the CFOTI could work with businesses to assess tariff impacts across their supply chains and explore mitigation strategies. These include product pricing adjustments, market diversification, alternative manufacturing hubs, and long-term supply chain resilience planning.

Original equipment manufacturer parts exporter Outsource Asia Industries said its US business has fallen into limbo after US tariffs for Chinese products got ratcheted up to 104 per cent on April 9.

The Singapore firm, which exports construction safety equipment from its partner's factory in China to the US and Canada, said its US customers have asked to delay shipments that are not already en route for now. US customers account for 90 per cent of its business.