Singapore may suffer collateral damage as Trump’s tariffs pave way for global trade war: analysts

SINGAPORE may have to brace itself for serious economic fallouts and double down on trade pacts if the US’ sweeping new tariffs – on imports from China, Canada and Mexico – pave the way for a major trade war, observers told The Business Times.

In particular, a further slowdown in China’s growth prospects would be worrying, given its strategic and economic importance to this region, said OCBC chief economist Selena Ling.

“The analogy is that when two elephants fight, others in the grass may get trampled,” said Ling, who is also the bank’s head of global markets research and strategy.