After more than a year of drama, email scandals and twitter wars, the U.S. elections have finally come to a close with Donald Trump the winner, but what does a Trump presidency mean for the ordinary Singaporean? Find out here with a 3 minute summary of What A Trump Presidency Means For Singaporeans!
Expect The Economy To Worsen
There are signs that president Trump would have a negative impact on Singapore’s economy, with a report by one Japanese research house stating “A Trump presidency would no doubt hurt Asia’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth” and there are three reasons to believe so.
1. He looks like he will adopt a more protectionist stance (In other words, try to protect American Jobs by restricting international trade) and try to bring more jobs back to America. He has in fact even singled out Singapore as one of the countries that have stolen jobs from ordinary Americans.
“…Baxter Health Care laid off 199 workers and moved their jobs to Singapore. It’s getting worse and worse and worse.”
– Donald Trump
The same Japanese report mentioned earlier stated that ”Any increase in trade protectionism globally will likely be negative for growth outlook, not only because it harms Singapore’s already struggling manufacturing sector but also its port services that handle re-exports…”
2. His campaign website states that he would “Instruct the Treasury Secretary to label China a currency manipulator.” And “Instruct the U.S. Trade Representative to bring trade cases against China, both in this country and at the WTO” This could have a very negative impact on the Chinese economy, which would, in turn, affect Singapore that relies heavily on exports. China and Hong Kong together accounted for more than 25% of our exports in 2015, so it’s easy to see how we could be badly affected by a weak Chinese economy.
3. Donald Trump has also strongly signaled that he would “Withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which has not yet been ratified.” The Trans-Pacific Partnership would be the largest regional trade accord in history and would boost trade and investment links between Singapore and other regional markets, even allowing Singapore firms to bid for government contracts in these countries and helping local SMEs.
Regional Tensions May Rise In Asia
A strong American presence in Asia has acted as a counter to Chinese influence, especially as the Chinese military grows its capabilities at a stronger, quicker pace in the past few years. President Trump has however stated that he “Would be willing to withdraw United States forces from both Japan and South Korea” and that he would be “Open to allowing Japan and South Korea to build their own nuclear arsenals”
This could lead to rising tensions in Asia if there are more nuclear players in the region. Even as China’s influence continues to grow within the region.
Muslims May Find It Harder To Enter The United States
In a statement made in December last year, President Trump’s campaign released a statement saying…
“Donald J. Trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country’s representatives can figure out what is going on.”
– Trump Campaign*
*Note that the original link to the statement made by the trump campaign does not seem to work, however, this is Google’s cached version of that statement.
He also stated in a republican primary debate that “They’re (Muslims) not coming to this country if I’m president. And if Obama has brought some to this country they are leaving, they’re going, they’re gone.” Whether or not president trump would actually enact policies that would prevent Muslims from visiting the U.S. however, remains to be seen.
That brings an end to our 3 minute summary of President Trump’s impact on ordinary Singaporeans. If you think we left something important out, do feel free to leave a comment in the section below! Love this article? Share it on Facebook! Think we’ve written something awesome and want to get more awesome updates? Subscribe to our Email Newsletter! or like us on facebook!