Tariffs Thoughts

Currently I am in Osaka now but I still have some thoughts about the incessant chain of tariffs by Trump.

But first, a quick snapshot of Osaka Castle!

Now back to my thoughts...

Recently, Trump also labelled Singapore as a currency manipulator which was pretty interesting. It also mentions about high saving rates and low consumption rates in our country. I did some quick research about Singapore policy here and essentially, Singapore uses exchange rate policy to manage the economy instead of interest rates (which is left to the free market) which may explain the huge number of foreign exchange purchases with respect to GDP.

Personally I don't think Singapore will be adversely affected in the short term as we have a trade deficit with the US (momentarily sparing us their wrath) but I think Singapore will continue to be affected by US tariffs on the rest of the world. China is also one of Singapore main trading partners and if poor sentiment ensues, we should continue to see downward pressures on STI.

Going to my previous calls, SIA is at 9.11 and Suntec Reit edged slightly higher at 1.82. Both are still on my watchlist and I am quite tempted to initiate positions.

What do you think?