US levies could spark global trade war, dampen S'pore's growth: DPM Gan

The US move to subject imports to wide-ranging tariffs will have a significant impact on Singapore and could escalate into a global trade war, Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong said on April 3.

- Ovais Subhani

DPM Gan, who is also Minister for Trade and Industry, was speaking to the media following US President Donald Trump's decision to impose a 10 per cent tariff on most goods imported into the US from Singapore and key partners, with higher duties for many other countries.

Analysts have said that the move could spark a global trade war and impact growth around the world.

"This 10 per cent baseline tariff on Singapore will have a significant impact on our economy," said DPM Gan.

"Our households and our businesses will have to be prepared for rough waters ahead of us."

Singapore is reassessing its growth forecast for 2025, and it is prepared to offer support to households and businesses if needed, he said.

"It is still early days, because some of the information is still not fully available, so we will need to take time to reassess, adjust, to see whether we need to recalibrate our economic forecast."

While the tariff of 10 per cent on goods from Singapore is less than that on goods from other countries, there will be an impact on growth if global trade and economic activity slows down significantly, DPM Gan noted.

He pointed out that some countries are already announcing retaliatory tariffs.