Trump tariffs kick in today. How will Singapore, South-east Asia be affected? Here's what you need to know
Trump had set a pause on country-specific tariffs, which initially was to expire on Jul 9; it then sent South-east Asian countries and China scrambling to secure last-minute deals and protect their economies from trade shocks.
He then signed an executive order last week with changes to some country rates. US duties rose from 10 per cent to levels between 15 and 41 per cent for a list of trading partners.
These higher rates came into effect for dozens of economies on Thursday (Aug 7).
In South-east Asia, countries were initially faced with huge tariff rates. Vietnam was slapped with a 48 per cent tariff rate, but was revised down to 20 per cent in July. However, a 40 per cent 'transhipping' tariff on goods that originate from another country and then sent to Vietnam before being shipped to the US will still take effect.
Indonesia also had its rate cut from 32 per cent to 19 per cent. The White House said Indonesia will eliminate tariff barriers on over 99% of U.S. products exported to Indonesia across all sectors, including for all agricultural products, health products, seafood, information and communications technology and others.
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Singapore has a baseline rate of 10 per cent, but Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said it's a rate that the country 'can live with.'
In the rest of the region and the world, many products from economies such as the European Union, Japan and South Korea now face a 15 per cent tariff, even with deals struck with Washington to avert steeper threatened levies.
China's original tariff rate was 145 per cent, but an earlier agreement revised it to 40 per cent. Talks are still ongoing between the US and China, with a deadline of Aug 12. Here's a look at the latest tariff rates in the region.
In terms of sectoral tariffs, Trump announced on Thursday that he would impose a 100 per cent tax on imports that include semiconductors, though companies moving production back to the US would be exempted.
Some chips that are made in Singapore will likely be affected. RHB analysts earlier in August said that Singapore faced threats due to potential sectoral tariffs on semiconductors and pharmaceuticals. They added that 'Singapore continues to be the most exposed' in Asean, citing its high trade openness and reliance on manufacturing exports.
- With additional reporting from Bloomberg
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