US Tariffs Risks Turning Global Trade Into 'Arm-Wrestling Match', Singapore FM Says

Global trade risks becoming a “bilateral arm-wrestling match” following President Donald Trump’s approach of slapping tariffs on its partners, according to Singapore’s Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan.

Such an imposition may trigger a strong temptation from the other side to impose reciprocal tariffs. “Instead of a rules-based global system that promotes trade, you now have a system where every trade agreement becomes a bilateral arm-wrestling match,” he said in a fireside chat during the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado on Wednesday. “You end up in an escalatory spiral.”