4 d. ago Like a ‘debt collector’? US ambassador irks Singaporeans for justifying tariff

The United States’ new ambassador to Singapore has come under fire for his remarks defending the 10 per cent tariff on the city state by framing it as the US seeking help from a friend after it had played an important role in Singapore’s economic miracle. Orthopaedic surgeon Anjani Sinha, who officially started his tenure on November 17, told government-funded local media outlet The Straits Times that the US was asking friends such as Singapore to help President Donald Trump “rebalance” and...

Politics

4 d. ago Like a ‘debt collector’? US ambassador irks Singaporeans by justifying tariff

The United States’ new ambassador to Singapore has come under fire for his remarks defending the 10 per cent tariff on the city state by framing it as the US seeking help from a friend after it had played an important role in Singapore’s economic miracle. Orthopaedic surgeon Anjani Sinha, who officially started his tenure on November 17, told government-funded local media outlet The Straits Times that the US was asking friends such as Singapore to help President Donald Trump “rebalance” and...

Politics

2 w. ago Why Trump won’t let Thailand keep tariff, border talks separate

Thailand’s insistence trade negotiations with the US can proceed separately from talks over a fractious border dispute with Cambodia has been met with deep scepticism given Washington’s increasing use of economic policy as a political instrument and US President Donald Trump’s personal stake in the ceasefire deal. Bangkok announced on Saturday that tariff talks with the United States would “remain separate from border issues”, a pledge government spokesman Siripong Angkasakulkiat said followed...

Politics

3 w. ago Malaysian economy’s hot run continues despite Trump’s tariff squeeze

Malaysia predicts growth this year is likely to approach 4.8 per cent after a resurgent exports sector defied the impact of US tariffs in the third quarter. The nation’s growth rate in 2025 is set to be “closer to” the upper range of the official forecast of 4 per cent to 4.8 per cent, and may even exceed it, Bank Negara Malaysia Governor Abdul Rasheed Ghaffour said at a briefing in Kuala Lumpur on Friday. An expansion in household spending and sustained investment activity will drive the...

Politics

3 w. ago Vietnam’s property sector a prime example of Asia’s tariff resilience

In an interview with Fox News in April, Peter Navarro, US President Donald Trump’s senior counsellor for trade and manufacturing, described Vietnam as “essentially a colony of communist China”. For someone who believes trade negotiations with Beijing are pointless, such extremist views are unsurprising. Yet the fact that Navarro, the chief architect of Trump’s trade wars, has it in for Vietnam attests to both the vulnerability and the strength of the country’s manufacturing sector. Among the...

Politics

3 w. ago Why Vietnam’s property sector has weathered Trump’s tariff typhoon well

In an interview with Fox News in April, Peter Navarro, US President Donald Trump’s senior counsellor for trade and manufacturing, described Vietnam as “essentially a colony of communist China”. For someone who believes trade negotiations with Beijing are pointless, such extremist views are unsurprising. Yet the fact that Navarro, the chief architect of Trump’s trade wars, has it in for Vietnam attests to both the vulnerability and the strength of the country’s manufacturing sector. Among the...

Politics

3 w. ago Why Maersk’s US$119 million Malaysian hub signals new battleground in tariff war

Next to a bustling expressway funnelling Malaysia’s exports to the world, Danish shipping giant Maersk has placed a US$118 million bet that Southeast Asia will not only withstand the new tariff era, but find a way to prosper. Maersk’s largest Asia-Pacific distribution centre opened in Shah Alam, Selangor state, on Wednesday. Seven years in the planning, it was conceived well before Donald Trump’s tariff-wielding return to the White House disrupted supply chains and slashed corporate margins. But...

Economics

3 w. ago Hong Kong to tap new markets amid easing tariff war, confident of export growth

Hong Kong is seeking to expand its trade networks by tapping into new markets in Latin America, Africa and Central Asia amid the easing of the US tariff war, the minister has said, expressing confidence that export growth will continue due to stronger ties with Southeast Asia. Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Algernon Yau Ying-wah said Hong Kong needed to diversify its exports following last month’s breakthrough in Sino-US trade talks when Chinese President Xi Jinping and his US...

Economics