SINGAPORE, April 3 — Singapore’s inclusion in sweeping new US tariffs has raised eyebrows, with a former senior trade official calling it an unexpected move against a close ally.

President Donald Trump’s latest trade policy, announced yesterday, imposes a 10 per cent tariff on all imports into the US, alongside hefty "reciprocal” tariffs on 60 trading partners.

While the highest rates target Asian economies — Cambodia at 49 per cent and China at 34 per cent — Singapore, despite its long-standing free trade agreement (FTA) with Washington, has not been spared.

Wendy Cutler, vice-president of the Asia Society Policy Institute and former acting deputy US trade representative, said to The Straits Times: "Hitting Singapore, a close ally and an FTA partner with an open economy, comes as a surprise.”

Under the US-Singapore FTA, in effect since 2004, Singapore applies zero tariffs on US products, barring its 9 per cent goods and services tax and excise duties on certain goods like alcohol and tobacco.

Cutler noted that even fellow FTA partners in the region had been affected.

"South Korea’s rate at 25 per cent is unusually high given that over 99 per cent of US exports to Korea enter duty-free,” she was quoted as saying.

The tariff overhaul marks the most significant shift in US trade policy in decades, with Trump arguing that it will replace free trade with "fair” trade.

While Canada and Mexico are exempt from the new tariffs, the European Union faces a 20 per cent rate, and Australia 10 per cent.

Asia has borne the brunt of the move, with Vietnam facing a 46 per cent tariff, Thailand 36 per cent, Indonesia and Taiwan 32 per cent each, and Malaysia 24 per cent.

Announcing the tariffs, Trump framed them as a move to correct trade imbalances.

"Foreign nations will finally be asked to pay for the privilege of access to our market, the biggest market in the world,” he said.

The universal tariffs take effect on April 5, with reciprocal tariffs starting on April 9.