Expressing disappointment with the tariffs, Mr Gan said Singapore could have chosen to take countermeasures under a free-trade agreement in force since 2004, but will not do so.
“Retaliatory import duties will just add cost to our imports from the US … and this will affect our consumers and our businesses,” he said.
Mr Gan said Singapore will try to engage the US at multiple levels to understand President Donald Trump’s areas of concern and see if they can be resolved.
“We’ll be engaging at the ministerial level, at the official level. Ambassadors in the US will also be engaging them, and our businessmen will also be engaging their private sector,” said Mr Gan.
“If there are no specific concerns, then it’s more difficult to argue or to negotiate.”
The US had a goods trade surplus of US$2.8 billion (S$3.74 billion) with Singapore last year, an 84.8 per cent increase over 2023, according to the United States Trade Representative website.
Mr Gan said Singapore will have to double down on its efforts to continue to keep its economy open and uphold open, fair and free trade among like-minded countries.
He added the country is working with its partners to strengthen the World Trade Organization (WTO), as it is “very important for us to make sure that we continue to strengthen and preserve the multilateral system to the extent possible, because this will provide the basis for collaboration for international trade under rules-based order”.
