Singapore’s top trade official offers to “mediate dialogue” between U.S. and China

Singapore’s top trade official said that they would be open to mediating a dialogue between the US and China in an attempt to fix their fractured relationship.  The official said that the tensions between the two nations have negative consequences for the rest of the world.

US-China tensions “have serious consequences for the rest of the world,” Gan Kim Yong, Singapore minister for trade and industry said during an interview with Bloomberg Television’s Haslinda Amin in an interview Thursday. “Singapore as you know has always wanted to do business with both.”

Singapore’s economy relies heavily on trade, with China being the country they do most business with.  The city-state find themselves vulnerable to disruptions in trade.

“All of us are concerned and watching this development very closely,” Gan said, referring to the export controls. “Singapore’s interests and interests of the rest of the world are for the US and China to have a stable relationship as well as a constructive one,” he added.

Governments of countries in Southeast Asia have been working on building their trade relationship with the United States following discussions on the White House’s Indo-Pacific Economic Framework. 

Singapore’s GPD is expected to grow between 0.5%-2.5% this year.  China’s loosening of COVID policies is expected to give their growth a shot in the arm.

“We depend on the growth of the world to fuel Singapore’s growth,” Gan said, noting that forecasts will be adjusted depending on the evolving global environment.

Gan said that following hawkish comments made by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell that “the jury it still out” on whether the United States will have a hard or soft landing from their ongoing disputes with China.