‘A surprise’: Singapore’s inclusion in Trump’s tariff hit list raises eyebrows
Trump announced a tariff of 10 per cent on all goods coming into the US from anywhere in the world, including Singapore. — AFP pic
Thursday, 03 Apr 2025 11:07 AM MYT
SINGAPORE, April 3 — Singapore’s inclusion in sweeping new US tariffs has raised eyebrows, with a former senior trade official calling it an unexpected move against a close ally.
President Donald Trump’s latest trade policy, announced yesterday, imposes a 10 per cent tariff on all imports into the US, alongside hefty “reciprocal” tariffs on 60 trading partners.
While the highest rates target Asian economies — Cambodia at 49 per cent and China at 34 per cent — Singapore, despite its long-standing free trade agreement (FTA) with Washington, has not been spared.
Wendy Cutler, vice-president of the Asia Society Policy Institute and former acting deputy US trade representative, said to The Straits Times: “Hitting Singapore, a close ally and an FTA partner with an open economy, comes as a surprise.”
Under the US-Singapore FTA, in effect since 2004, Singapore applies zero tariffs on US products, barring its 9 per cent goods and services tax and excise duties on certain goods like alcohol and tobacco.
Cutler noted that even fellow FTA partners in the region had been affected.
“South Korea’s rate at 25 per cent is unusually high given that over 99 per cent of US exports to Korea enter duty-free,” she was quoted as saying.
The tariff overhaul marks the most significant shift in US trade policy in decades, with Trump arguing that it will replace free trade with “fair” trade.
While Canada and Mexico are exempt from the new tariffs, the European Union faces a 20 per cent rate, and Australia 10 per cent.
Asia has borne the brunt of the move, with Vietnam facing a 46 per cent tariff, Thailand 36 per cent, Indonesia and Taiwan 32 per cent each, and Malaysia 24 per cent.
Announcing the tariffs, Trump framed them as a move to correct trade imbalances.
“Foreign nations will finally be asked to pay for the privilege of access to our market, the biggest market in the world,” he said.
The universal tariffs take effect on April 5, with reciprocal tariffs starting on April 9.
https://www.newsweek.com/white-house-explains-why-russia-not-included-trumps-new-tariffs-2054548
ReplyDeleteWhite House Explains Why Russia Not Included in Trump's New Tariffs
Published Apr 02, 2025 at 5:52 PM EDT
Updated Apr 02, 2025 at 7:45 PM EDT
Don Fuck has no friends nor alies , just transactional counterparts.
ReplyDeleteSing has to just suck it up and accept it.
Something to consider...seems like the battle is with the moneyman, bankers, and most likely, methink, them fellas at the central bank of central banks, Bank of International Settlement, and by extension, the ghouls associated with the City of London, which our regular Syed just ranted about...the hidden war with those who control the world has always been those who control money.
ReplyDeleteIf true, most likely the whole world will gain from reasonable interest rate, but we will find out. Right now, a lot of emotional youtube punters...been following two SG "youtuber investors" ranting at "die lor..."
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https://t.me/professor_patriot_official/35273
Trump is no longer the stock market president.
When Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Trump learned that Biden's people cooked the books on inflation and unemployment, they knew they had been set up for failure.
They also knew America's economic engine which had primarily been driven by government jobs needed to be re-tooled to rely on private sector employment.
The economic reset in America will cause investor fear which will shake financial markets. Trump and Bessent are expecting this.
Their goals are to reduce the yield on the 10-year treasury, and force the Fed to lower the prime rate. If those things happen, the economy will respond favorably.
...
https://x.com/DrJStrategy/status/1907570725499842788
Folks just don’t get it.
Rates are declining, Bessent is a happy man. His North Star is the UST 10 yr yield. Not the Fed!
Tariffs will eventually force the Feds hand.
Let the crazies in the equity futures have their fun. The real information is in the credit markets.
UST 10 yr about to break 4%
Just indicative only, but telling... TE recorded 3.882% as at the moment of this comment.
Deletehttps://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/government-bond-yield
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/04/04/us-treasury-yields-investors-digest-aftermath-of-trumps-tariffs.html
Delete10-year Treasury yield tumbles below 4% on fear a trade war will tip economy into a recession
Published Fri, Apr 4 20255:14 AM EDT Updated 12 Min Ago
U.S. Treasury yields continued to plummet on Friday, with 10-year Treasury yield falling well below 4%, after China retaliated against President Donald Trump’s aggressive “reciprocal tariff” policy rollout, causing investors to flood into bonds for safety on fears of a global recession.
The 10-year Treasury yield dropped over 16 basis points to 3.89%, falling to the lowest level since October. The yield had topped 4.8% earlier this year on hopes that Trump would rev up the U.S. economy with tax cuts.
...
A thread, #2
Deletehttps://x.com/tanvi_ratna/status/1907880109949989069?s=19
Start with the debt: $9.2T must be refinanced in 2025.
If rolled into 10-yr bonds, every 1 basis point drop in rates saves approx $1B/year; so a 0.5% drop would save $500B over a decade.
Lower yields free up fiscal room—without them, core spending gets crowded out.
Just a catch, who r buying those bonds?
DeleteThe native billionaires r too calculative, know too much (especially those judas). The foreign buyers r almost stopped buying irrespective of yields.
Even the Arabs aint no fool & they cant be handpicked anymore.
Israel oso kena 10%, so why not Little Red Dot? In fact 500yo Bullyland should impose tariffs on all military exports like F35s, Patriots, Tomahawks etc and start charging host countries for Bully military bases because now they get free protection. Eg South Korea, Yapan, Germany, Qatar, Greenland….
ReplyDeleteA hint - what happened to the check on the gold deposits of yankeeland initiated by DOGE?
ReplyDeleteThis story has quietly sidelined by all western media.
There r gold. But not as in the booked number. Many r just secretly shipped in from Landon to yru matching up the deficit.
The POTUS cant play Nixon's Bretton Woods trick!
All signs point to the Yankee have no more room for monetary/fiscal moneavours to save its nation fortune.
Save for starting a war in the like of Nazis Germany under Hitler.
Who to choose? Iran at the current ME conflicts? China with the heightened Taiwan unification? The Russko/Ukraine war has proven its ineffectiveness in helping the yank to resolve its accumulated & current sopo-economical messyness. Boz of wrong choice of both Russia & Ukraine. Iran is the better bet for Trump to force his hands of sending yankee boys to die in foreign land.
Take your pick, radish or carrot...subliminal messaging man, sub-li-mi-nal
ReplyDeletehttps://x.com/Timcast/status/1907782186612257259?t=SYktsjAySVD_bTElnuI11A&s=19
Woah...
On CNN Trump is Orange, on Fox he isn't
This is the scam
Holy shit