Singaporean leaders are issuing stark warnings after U.S. President Donald Trump unleashed sweeping global tariffs, with Prime Minister Lawrence Wong calling it a direct threat to the city-state’s economy and a step toward a global trade war.
“It will spell trouble for all nations, especially small ones like Singapore,” Wong said in a video address Friday evening. “We risk being squeezed out, marginalised and left behind.” The U.S. tariffs — a universal 10% minimum levy on all imports, including those from Singapore — are already rattling markets. The Straits Times Index plunged 8.7% on Monday, its steepest drop since the 2008 financial crisis.
Wong’s predecessor, Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong, also weighed in Sunday, warning that the fallout could be deep and long-lasting. “It’s going to affect our trade, our economy, our region — and our future,” Lee said at a community event. “It’s not good news.”
Singapore’s government is now re-evaluating its 2025 growth forecast, which was already downgraded to 1–3% before the tariffs were announced — a sharp fall from 4.4% growth in 2024.
The timing of the tariff shock adds political tension ahead of Singapore’s upcoming general election. Cost-of-living pressures and economic fears are top issues for voters, and the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) is under pressure to avoid a repeat of its poor 2020 showing, when it won its lowest-ever share of the vote.
Opposition voices are questioning the government’s tone. Tan Cheng Bock, chairman of the Progress Singapore Party, accused PAP leaders of “scaremongering.” “This call by the government ministers about the tariff, in my opinion, is partly to instil fear in the voter,” Tan said. “Don’t just make statements of this kind and scare everybody.”
Singapore, heavily reliant on trade and multinational investment, now faces tough decisions as global economic uncertainty deepens — with Trump expected to escalate tariffs again within days.