Transcript of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong’s doorstop on US tariff developments on 22 February 2026

Our economy has weathered the impact of tariffs well in 2025, achieving economic growth of 5% although domestic exports to the US have declined by close to 9%. The decision by the Supreme Court of the US on tariffs, President Trump's announcement to apply across-the-board 10% tariffs on all countries, and subsequently raising it to 15%, is a stark reminder to all of us that we are now facing a very unpredictable and uncertain operating environment. 

How the new tariffs are going to be implemented is yet to be announced, and how countries around the world will respond is also still unknown. It is important for us to continue to remind ourselves that we need to prepare for the long term and this is the new world that we are facing. Therefore, our Economic Strategy Review plays a very important part in charting the path forward to strengthen our competitiveness and deepen our resilience, and this is an important part of the work. 

We will continue to work with our counterparts in the U.S. to seek greater clarification on how the tariff will be implemented, and more details about the new round of tariff implementation, bearing in mind that there is still significant uncertainty surrounding the tariffs, because Section 122 has a time limit, and therefore we can expect that the tariff will continue to have changes in time to come. 

We want to work together with our Singapore Economic Resilience Taskforce (SERT) and with our members, reaching out to our stakeholders, our companies, our workers, to have an assessment of the impact on their businesses, their jobs and to see what we can do to support them and help them navigate these uncertainties. 

In all likelihood, this new 15% across-the-board tariff will be applicable to Singapore. We need to be prepared for the impact. At the same time, Budget 2026 has rolled out a series of measures to support our companies, our enterprises, and help our workers and our households. If need be, and if necessary, we are prepared to roll out more measures, and we will continue to monitor the situation.