SINGAPORE — Deputy Prime Minister and Trade and Industry Minister Gan Kim Yong is heading to the United States for high-level talks as Singapore navigates a new 12.5% US tariff on a range of its exports, putting the city-state’s carefully built trade relationship with Washington under renewed pressure.
Gan will be in the US from Aug. 24 to Aug. 25, beginning his trip in New York, where he is scheduled to meet business and financial leaders. He will then travel to Washington, DC, for meetings with members of the US administration on trade, investment and emerging sectors.
The timing is significant.
The visit comes just weeks after Washington imposed the 12.5% tariff on certain Singapore exports following a US investigation involving 60 trading partners and concerns over imports linked to forced labour. Singapore has rejected the suggestion that it is involved in such trade, saying there is no evidence supporting that conclusion.
A tariff affecting billions in exports
The new US tariff does not cover every Singaporean product entering the American market.
According to Gan, approximately one-third of Singapore’s domestic exports to the US — worth about S$9.5 billion (US$7.5 billion) annually — are affected.
Among the products exposed to the tariff are optical instruments and chemical products. Certain energy products, electronics and aerospace products are excluded, while pharmaceuticals and semiconductors are treated separately because they fall under other US tariff measures or investigations.
Goods already covered by US national-security tariffs, including steel and aluminium, are also exempt from the new measure.
For Singapore, the issue goes beyond the immediate cost of a tariff.
The country is one of the world’s major trading and transshipment hubs, with enormous volumes of goods moving through its ports and supply chains. Any additional trade restrictions or compliance requirements could therefore have consequences extending well beyond the companies directly exporting from Singapore.
Why Singapore is taking a cautious approach
Gan has previously said Singapore would have to carefully consider the wider consequences before seeking concessions from Washington.
Singapore has continued engaging the US Trade Representative, but the government has warned that measures such as imposing new import restrictions could create substantial compliance costs for businesses and potentially affect Singapore’s relationships with other trading partners.
That caution reflects Singapore’s position as a highly open economy.
The country conducts around S$2.5 trillion in annual goods and services trade, including roughly S$1.4 trillion in goods trade, making it particularly exposed to changes in the global trading system.
Washington has another concern: Chinese goods
The tariff dispute is also unfolding alongside a broader US concern about Chinese goods being routed through third countries to circumvent American tariffs.
Prime Minister Lawrence Wong addressed the issue during his National Day Rally, saying Singapore takes concerns over forced labour and tariff circumvention seriously and has rules in place that companies operating in the country are expected to follow.
But Wong also acknowledged a practical limitation: because Singapore is a major re-export and transshipment centre, it cannot realistically trace every product’s entire supply chain across the world.
That makes Gan’s Washington meetings particularly important.
Singapore is attempting to reassure the US that it takes Washington’s concerns seriously while also protecting its position as an open trading hub.
The US-Singapore relationship is much bigger than tariffs
Despite the current tariff dispute, the underlying economic relationship remains substantial.
Merchandise trade between Singapore and the US reached S$139.2 billion in 2025, making the US Singapore’s fourth-largest trading partner in goods.
The relationship is even larger in services: bilateral services trade totalled S$185.1 billion in 2024, with the US ranking as Singapore’s largest services trading partner.
Investment ties are also significant.
Singapore was the third-largest Asian investor in the US in 2025, with approximately US$53 billion in foreign direct investment stock. Meanwhile, the US was Singapore’s largest source of foreign direct investment, with S$778.6 billion in FDI stock in Singapore in 2024.
According to Singapore’s MTI, bilateral trade and Singaporean investments in the US support around 350,000 jobs in America.
That gives both sides a strong incentive to keep the broader relationship stable even as disagreements over tariffs continue.
Singapore has already made its case
Gan’s latest trip is not Singapore’s first attempt to address the tariff issue directly.
He visited Washington in April, when Singapore and the US were marking 60 years of diplomatic relations. During that engagement, Singapore pressed its case with US officials, including the US Trade Representative.
Singapore has argued that there is no evidence it is involved in trade associated with forced labour, citing information from the US Department of Labor and US Customs and Border Protection.
Foreign Affairs Minister Vivian Balakrishnan also said in July that Singapore had told US Secretary of State Marco Rubio that there was “no technical or economic basis” for imposing tariffs on Singapore.
But Washington’s decision to impose the 12.5% tariff shows that Singapore’s diplomatic arguments have not yet produced an exemption.
What happens next could be the bigger story
The immediate question is whether Gan’s meetings in Washington can produce greater clarity — or potentially better treatment — for Singaporean exporters.
But the bigger challenge may be how Singapore adapts to a world where tariffs and trade restrictions are becoming a more permanent part of international commerce.
Singapore cannot afford to simply wait for the US tariff environment to return to what it was before.
The government’s own messaging has increasingly focused on helping businesses and workers adjust, strengthening competitiveness and maintaining Singapore’s relevance as global supply chains become more fragmented.
For Singapore, the stakes are therefore larger than a 12.5% tariff.
It is a test of whether the city-state can continue balancing its close economic relationship with the United States, its role as a global trading hub and the increasingly complicated rules governing international supply chains.
And as Gan Kim Yong sits down with US officials in Washington, the question is no longer simply how Singapore can respond to one tariff.
The bigger question is whether Singapore can protect its trade advantage in a world where the rules themselves are rapidly changing.
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