Unclear if US tariffs on Singapore will rise from 10% to 15%: Gan Siow Huang

[SINGAPORE] There remains considerable uncertainty in the global tariff environment, with a lack of clarity over whether the current 10 per cent Section 122 tariff will be raised to 15 per cent, said Minister of State for Trade and Industry Gan Siow Huang in Parliament on Thursday (Mar 5), noting the lack of an official directive.

Also unclear is what the overall tariff landscape will be after the current 150-day timeline, she added.

On Feb 20, the US announced a 10 per cent tariff under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 on all US imports for 150 days, after its Supreme Court struck down its reciprocal tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, Gan recapped, adding that collections began on Feb 24, 12.01 am, US time.

US President Donald Trump on Feb 21 announced that the tariff rate would be raised to 15 per cent on Truth Social – but “the US has yet to issue an official directive on this increase”, she continued.

Separately, US Treasury ​Secretary Scott Bessent said on Wednesday that the increase is likely to be implemented sometime this ​week.

Gan said the immediate impact of the tariff developments on Singapore’s economy is “not expected to be significant”, given that the current 10 per cent tariff is “broadly unchanged” from the previous 10 per cent reciprocal tariffs that had been imposed on the city-state’s imports to the US since April 2025.

“Those with a greater dependence on the US for final demand and whose exports are covered by the Section 122 tariff, such as the precision engineering cluster and some segments under the general manufacturing cluster, could see a greater impact from any tariff increase,” she said.

The minister of state said the government will continue to monitor developments closely and engage its US counterparts to safeguard Singapore’s economic interests.

Support measures

Asked about support measures, she noted that the government continues to work with tripartite and industry partners through the Singapore Economic Resilience Taskforce (Sert) to gather feedback on how businesses and workers are affected.

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Sert launched the Business Adaptation Grant (BizAdapt) in October 2025 to help affected businesses evaluate the tariff impact, optimise supply chains and reconfigure operations, she said, adding that support levels under BizAdapt will be raised from up to 50 per cent to a maximum of 70 per cent, as announced in Budget 2026.

The government had also launched Graduate Industry Traineeships, a temporary scheme to provide traineeships for fresh graduates to gain industry-relevant experience and skills amid economic uncertainty, she said. This is to ensure that they are better equipped to transition into full-time employment.