SINGAPORE: What was billed as a “seismic shift” in global trade turned into a temporary pause. Now, netizens are accusing Prime Minister Lawrence Wong of jumping the gun—with some calling it a case of fear-mongering gone wrong.
In a video uploaded to his Facebook page on 4 April, Wong characterised the United States’ announcement to impose worldwide tariffs on countries as a “seismic change” in the global order.
He said this signalled the end of rules-based globalisation and the start of a more dangerous, unpredictable era—one that could marginalise small, open economies like Singapore.
“My fellow Singaporeans, I’ve said before that the world is changing – in ways that will disadvantage small open economies like Singapore,” he said.
“Some had previously questioned this assessment. But the recent ‘Liberation Day’ announcement by the US leaves no room for doubt.”
Wong warned that while Singapore’s new tariffs would be set at 10 per cent, the broader implications were potentially far more serious.
“We risk being squeezed out, marginalised and left behind,” he said, noting that the US’s departure from the multilateral trading system it helped build—namely, the World Trade Organisation—marked a “complete rejection” of international norms.
Calling the trajectory “arbitrary, protectionist, and dangerous,” Wong even drew parallels with the 1930s, when trade wars escalated into armed conflict and eventually World War II.
“The likelihood of a full-blown global trade war is growing,” he said. “We must brace ourselves for more shocks to come.”
While clarifying that Singapore would not retaliate with its own tariffs, Wong cautioned that other countries might not show the same restraint.
“Let us not be lulled into complacency. The risks are real. The stakes are high,” he concluded.
Tariffs ‘Unjustified and Harmful,’ Says PM Wong
Wong followed up with a ministerial statement in Parliament on 8 April, calling the US-imposed tariffs “unjustified and harmful.”
The duties—announced by President Donald Trump on 2 April and originally expected to take effect from 9 April—would, he said, hurt Singapore’s economy, businesses, and workers.
“Singapore may or may not go into recession this year. But I have no doubt our growth will be significantly impacted,” said Wong, who also serves as Finance Minister.
He said export-reliant sectors such as manufacturing, wholesale trade, and transport were likely to bear the brunt, especially amid weakening global demand.
The Ministry of Trade and Industry’s growth forecast for 2025—initially between 1 and 3 per cent—is now under review and may be revised downward.
He announced short-term support measures from Budget 2025, including CDC and SG60 vouchers, enhanced ComCare, and U-Save rebates.
A new task force chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong would also be formed to coordinate additional support for affected workers and businesses.
Further initiatives include corporate tax rebates, productivity incentives, and a new SkillsFuture Jobseeker Support scheme to be launched later in the month.
Wong credited Singapore’s ability to react swiftly to its “decades of financial prudence.”
He also questioned the fairness of the US’s policy shift.
“If the tariffs were truly reciprocal, the tariff for Singapore should be zero,” he said, pointing out that Singapore does not impose tariffs on US goods and runs a trade deficit with the US.
“These are not actions one does to a friend.”
Tariff Pause Sparks Market Rally
However, just one day before the tariffs were to take effect, Trump announced via his Truth Social account that he had authorised a 90-day pause on global tariffs.
He explained that more than 75 countries had reached out to US authorities to negotiate, and that none had retaliated, prompting the pause.
A lowered reciprocal tariff of 10 per cent would apply immediately during this window.
The announcement triggered a market rebound.
On 10 April, Singapore’s benchmark index surged, recovering from its steepest one-day fall in 25 years, as reported by The Straits Times.
Sats was the biggest gainer on the Singapore blue-chip index, jumping as much as 9.8 per cent to $2.70 at market open on 9 April.
The three local banks surged by an average of 9 per cent—UOB rose 9.3 per cent to $33.87, DBS climbed 9.2 per cent to $40.58, and OCBC gained 8.6 per cent to $15.66.
Netizens Say Tariff Threat Was Overblown by Government
Following this, netizens began to question the urgency and tone of Prime Minister Lawrence Wong’s earlier warnings, accusing him of stoking unnecessary public anxiety.
A user on the r/SingaporeRaw forum cited the tariff pause and remarked, “The Dow pops about 6% on the news.”
The user cynically described the situation as a “PAP scaremongering fail by playing the Trump chaos card,” suggesting that the dire consequences Wong warned of had not materialised.
They added sarcastically, “Let’s see what 180-degree turns the PAP is going to take now.”
Another user commented in another Reddit thread, “PSP was right—tariff fears are overblown,” referencing the 6 April press conference by the Progress Singapore Party (PSP).
During the event, PSP Chairman Dr Tan Cheng Bock suggested that the Government’s warnings about the tariffs were partly a political ploy to instil fear among voters.
“They want people to think, ‘Oh, this is going to be serious, you better vote for the incumbent. Safe bet,’” Tan said.
He also called for detailed economic analysis to evaluate the real impact.
“These things must be studied carefully by economists like Leong Mun Wai and all these people on the real impact of this tariff on our people. Don’t just make statements of this kind and scare everybody.”
PSP Secretary-General Leong Mun Wai echoed this view, urging focus on broader US policy trends rather than exaggerating the tariffs’ effect.
“When even bigger things happen—we do not know. But at the moment, if you talk about tariffs, I think we are a bit overblowing the thing.”
Another Reddit user wrote, “I called this two days ago and got downvoted for defending the PSP. Now LWrong has to release another video to make up for his earlier intense fear-mongering—wrongly playing the Trump card to spook the electorate.”
Some commenters criticised what they saw as a recurring pattern in the Government’s crisis responses.
One remarked, “It’s always fear-mongering, or a task force, or a COI,” referring to the frequent use of Committees of Inquiry and task forces.
Another post read, “Yep… shows that PAP is scaremongering as well as weak af… how to inspire confidence like that? Instead of reassuring citizens they just want to sow panic.”
Speculating about the Government’s next move, one user wrote, “He’s going to say it’s because of global uncertainty, since the USA—being the biggest economy in the world—can arbitrarily change its policies overnight.”
Another user recalled that just before the tariffs were announced, the Singapore Government had expressed confidence that the US would not impose tariffs on Singapore due to the trade deficit.
The user added that the Government appeared to be caught off guard and was now “publicly ranting” that the tariffs were “not actions one does to a friend.”
They wrote, “Emotional immature rant that can only backfire and accomplish nothing.”
Another commenter wrote, “Ten per cent tariffs and you’re publicly bitching about it? When your country is running a trade surplus with the US?”
They added that Wong had “just showed his hand and Singapore’s hand to the US,” arguing that Trump now knows how much pain the Singapore leadership is willing to tolerate—“even if the threat is only perceived, not real.”
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