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This time is different: More downside risks unless US reduces tariff rates

Overall growth in Asia could fall to 4% in 2025, down from 5.1% last year, with the trade-driven economies of North Asia, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore more susceptible

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    • Tariffs are supposed to be good for US jobs, as Trump has argued, but they are more likely to cause negative employment effects because of the way they ripple through the economy.
    • Tariffs are supposed to be good for US jobs, as Trump has argued, but they are more likely to cause negative employment effects because of the way they ripple through the economy. PHOTO: REUTERS

    DeeperDive is a beta AI feature. Refer to full articles for the facts.

    Kelvin Tay

    Published Tue, Apr 8, 2025 · 05:32 PM

    ON APR 2, US President Donald Trump announced one of the biggest changes in US economic policy in a generation. The measures will bring the effective tariff rate on imports in the US to their highest levels in 100 years.

    This is an unprecedented reversal of the post-World War II economic order where the US was its chief architect. Global trade was seen as the key to rebuilding economies devastated by the war, and the US led efforts to restore stability.

    The US is clearly turning its back on principles of non-discrimination and actual reciprocity – in favour of a new scheme that delivers unilateral trade benefits to the US alone.

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