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SINGAPORE: Acting Minister for Transport Jeffrey Siow will join the task force that was formed to address the impact of US tariffs, following the recent Cabinet changes.
Education Minister Desmond Lee, who was Minister for National Development before the Cabinet reshuffle, will step down from the task force.
Newly elected chairman of the Singapore Business Federation (SBF), Teo Siong Seng, also replaces his predecessor, Lim Ming Yan, as the SBF representative.
These changes take effect immediately, said the SBF, the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI), the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) and Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF) in a joint media release on Tuesday (May 27).
The task force, called the Singapore Economic Resilience Taskforce (SERT), was formed in April to help businesses and workers deal with the impact of tariffs imposed by the United States.
Chaired by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong, it will work to address immediate challenges and develop long-term strategies.
Members are split into three groups to focus on different areas, namely, sensemaking and communication, short-term support and development of additional measures and long-term strategies and responses.
Apart from Mr Gan, the task force comprises seven other members:
- Minister for Digital Development and Information Josephine Teo
- Minister for Manpower and Minister-in-charge of Energy and Science & Technology Tan See Leng
- Minister for National Development Chee Hong Tat
- Acting Minister for Transport and Senior Minister of State for Finance Jeffrey Siow
- Chairman of SBF Teo Siong Seng
- Secretary-general of NTUC Ng Chee Meng
- President of SNEF Tan Hee Teck
“SERT’s mandate remains unchanged,” Mr Gan said on Tuesday.
“We will continue to work with our tripartite partners to help our businesses and workers navigate the current uncertainties in global trade.”
In April, US President Donald Trump unveiled a baseline 10 per cent tariff on all imports targeting countries around the world, including Singapore.
The US has recently offered to discuss concessions for Singapore on pharmaceutical exports to the US, Mr Gan said in an update on the task force efforts earlier this month.
“They have offered Singapore to say that, why not, both Singapore and US can sit down and discuss some form of a concession for Singapore to have a beneficial or preferential tariff, even to the extent of zero tariff for pharmaceutical exports to the US,” Mr Gan said.
That would require some effort from Singapore to ensure that the supply chain is secure. “These are the details that we are discussing,” he added.
Pharmaceuticals make up over 10 per cent of Singapore’s exports to the US.
Singapore maintained its growth forecast for the year at a range of 0 to 2 per cent, but MTI cautioned of an uncertain environment ahead.
MTI on Thursday said that while the external demand outlook for the rest of the year has “improved slightly” following recent tariff talks, the global economic outlook “remains clouded by significant uncertainty”.
