Commentary: In the shadow of Hormuz, Trump is still pursuing his tariff agenda
CNA
The latest US trade probes are designed for a specific political purpose - to reclaim lost leverage following the striking down of the “Liberation Day” tariffs, says Kevin Chen from the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies.
SINGAPORE: As the war in Iran enters its third week, many economic observers have understandably been focused on the situation surrounding the Strait of Hormuz. However, it is arguable that an equally significant storm is brewing in Washington.
The United States Trade Representative’s (USTR) office on Mar 11 announced that it was launching a new Section 301 trade investigation on excess industrial capacity against 16 trading partners, including China, the European Union, Singapore and five other Southeast Asian countries.
This was followed hours later by the announcement of another probe into 60 economies – including Singapore – over failures to take action on forced labour.
These investigations are clearly a move by US President Donald Trump to restore the “Liberation Day” tariffs that were struck down by the US Supreme Court in February. Mr Trump had moved swiftly to announce a new 10 per cent global import duty under a separate legal justification, but that was an interim measure that will expire in July 2026.
The latest US trade probes are designed for a specific political purpose - to reclaim lost leverage following the striking down of the “Liberation Day” tariffs, says Kevin Chen from the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies.
March 17 : Microsoft said on Tuesday it is reorganizing its Copilot teams by unifying its commercial and consumer versions, as the tech giant rushes to improve its AI assistant product and drive better adoption. The restructuring will free up Microsoft's AI chief Mustafa Suleyman, enabling the industry vetera
March 17 : Microsoft said on Tuesday it is reorganizing its Copilot AI product teams by unifying its commercial and consumer versions, as the tech giant rushes to improve its AI assistant product and drive better adoption. Jacob Andreou, who has served as the corporate vice president of Product and Growth at
NEW YORK, March 17 : Global stocks rose on Tuesday for a second straight session, even as the war in Iran drove up oil prices and ahead of a flurry of policy announcements from global central banks this week. Israel said it killed Iran's security chief, while a senior Iranian official said the new supreme le
March 17 : OpenAI has signed a new deal to sell access to its AI model to U.S. defense and government agencies through Amazon's cloud unit for classified and unclassified work, the Information reported on Tuesday.The contract enables OpenAI to support the Pentagon under a deal it secured late last month, afte
March 17 : Mastercard said on Tuesday it would buy stablecoin payments infrastructure firm BVNK for up to $1.8 billion.The acquisition underscores Mastercard's strategy to expand beyond traditional card networks and position itself at the center of emerging digital asset ecosystems, including stablecoins.
March 17 : Nebius, Europe's largest AI infrastructure firm, said on Tuesday it aims to raise $3.75 billion via a convertible loan offering.The news follows two big announcements from Nebius this month, a deal worth up to $27 billion to provide AI computing power to Meta, and a $2 billion investment from Nvidi
NEW YORK, March 17 : Amazon is ramping up its speedy delivery service by offering 1-hour and 3-hour shipping in markets across the U.S., including Los Angeles and Chicago, in its latest efforts to stave off e-commerce competition from its biggest rival Walmart. Fast delivery has been a significant part of Am
March 17 : Citigroup cut its 12-month forecast for bitcoin and ethereum, citing slow U.S. legislative progress that narrows the window for regulatory catalysts expected to boost ETF-driven demand and broader institutional adoption.Progress on U.S. crypto market-structure legislation has stalled in the Senate,
This comes after Singtel on Monday experienced a more than eight-hour disruption to its network.
WASHINGTON, March 16 : The U.S. government on Monday said electric vehicle maker Tesla and South Korea's LG Energy Solution had signed a supply agreement to build a $4.3 billion lithium iron phosphate (LFP) prismatic battery cell manufacturing facility in Lansing, Michigan, with an expected production launch in 2027
HONG KONG, March 17 : The U.S. dollar drifted on Tuesday as traders weighed developments in the Iran war, while the Australian dollar eased slightly ahead of an expected rate hike from the country's central bank later in the day. The euro was 0.12 per cent lower at $1.1492 in Asian trading, while sterling was
TOKYO: Oil climbed again in Asia on Tuesday (Mar 17) after prices retreated a day earlier, with investors remaining focused on the Strait of Hormuz.At around 12.30am GMT, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was up 1.95 per cent at US$95.32 after it fell 5.3 per cent the previous day.Brent Crude was 1.84 per