US postpones tariffs on Singapore pharma products

President Donald Trump's administration said it would impose 100% tariffs on all branded pharmaceutical products from Oct. 1, unless drug companies were building manufacturing plants in the U.S.

"The implementation of this tariff has since been delayed to allow time for pharmaceutical companies to negotiate exemptions with the U.S. administration," minister Gan Siow Huang told parliament.

Singapore's pharmaceutical exports to the U.S. averaged S$3.7 billion (US$2.8 billion) a year between 2022 and 2024, she said.

Scientists conduct research in a laboratory at MerLion Pharmaceuticals Pte Ltd, a Singapore-based company that engages in drug discovery from natural products in Singapore, March 3, 2006. Photo by Reuters

Eight of the top 10 global pharmaceutical companies have manufacturing and research and development activities in the city-state, and "13% of our domestic exports to the U.S. were pharmaceutical products," she added.

Gan said the government has "been engaging Singapore-based pharmaceutical companies on the impact of the U.S. tariffs," and many of these firms already have plans to build or expand facilities in the U.S.

They are "awaiting further details from the U.S. administration to confirm that their plans would qualify for the tariff exemption," Gan said.

Singapore is heavily reliant on international trade and vulnerable to any global slowdown induced by the U.S. tariffs.

The trade ministry said Tuesday that preliminary estimates show that Singapore's economy expanded 2.9% year-on-year in the third quarter to September, slowing from the previous three months as U.S. tariffs weighed on key manufacturing segments.