SINGAPORE: At midnight on Wednesday (Apr 9), steep tariffs on “nations that treat (the United States) badly” went into effect. In Asia, major stock indexes sank. But less than 24 hours later, President Donald Trump announced a 90-day pause, bringing tariffs back to a 10 per cent baseline for all countries, except China.

Lawrence Wong expressed that Washington’s new tariffs are not a reform of the global trade order but rather a rejection of the very system that the US once championed.