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About one-third of Singapore's exports to the US, worth S$9.5bn ($7.4bn), will be affected by a new US tariff of 12.5% imposed on July 24, Trade Minister Gan Kim Yong has said, reports Reuters. Gan said in parliament on Wednesday that the tariffs imposed under Section 301 of the US Trade Act of 1974 would affect about a third of Singapore's exports, including optical instruments and chemical products. Exempt exports include energy and energy products, certain electronics and aerospace products, as well as semiconductors and pharmaceuticals. Gan said the US had said it levied the tariff because Singapore does not have a law prohibiting the importation of goods produced with forced labour, nor an Agreement of Reciprocal Trade with the US committing to introduce such a law. "Importantly, none of the 60 economies, including those that already have such prohibitions in force, received a full exemption from the tariff," he said, referring to trading partners that have also had a similar tariff imposed, including the European Union and China. Singapore has said that there is no evidence that it is involved in the trade of goods involving forced labour. Gan said that the city-state would need to "consider carefully" what would be involved in an agreement with the US, noting that they may involve "commitments beyond an import prohibition, including export controls or restrictions relating to third countries". As a major trading hub, he said the nation's goods and services trade amounts to around S$2.5tn each year, of which S$1.4tn was in goods so any import prohibition would have "significant implications". According to the USTR's statistics, the US trade surplus with Singapore was $3.6bn in 2025. 

His Excellency the Minister of State for Energy Affairs, Saad Sherida al-Kaabi has reaffirmed Qatar’s commitment to cooperate with members states “to promote natural gas as a primary vehicle to achieve access to cleaner energy.”He was addressing the opening session of the 27th Ministerial Meeting of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) in Doha today.Al-Kaabi who headed Qatar’s delegation to the Meeting said: “We must be clear in our opposition to trade barriers and discriminatory measures that disadvantage energy products, especially natural gas.”Al-Kaabi also affirmed that “despite geopolitical tensions and faltering climate policies, the outlook for natural gas - and particularly LNG - is positive. It is driven by economic growth in Asia, a growing desire for cleaner and more economic sources of energy, and booming power demand from data centers and artificial intelligence.”**media[372560]**The ministerial meeting tackled a number of issues of importance to the mission of the Forum particularly with regards to the role of natural gas in the ongoing energy transition.The Gas Exporting Countries Forum is a gathering of the world’s leading gas exporting countries. It aims to build a mechanism for a more meaningful dialogue between gas producers and consumers to ensure stability and security of supply and demand in global natural gas markets.