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you know sg is going downhill when SG still 10% and unable to get any deal

The United States has granted 0% import tariffs on specific products from three ASEAN countries: Thailand, Malaysia, and Cambodia. Malaysia's tariff exemption applies to its aerospace equipment, pharmaceutical, and key commodity (palm oil, cocoa, rubber) sectors. Thailand received 0% tariffs on select items as part of a reciprocal deal, committing to purchase over $20 billion in US agricultural products, energy, and aircraft. The new 0% tariff policy reverses a previously imposed 19% retaliatory tariff on the three nations.     The United States has officially approved a 0% import tariff for specific products originating from three key members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN): Thailand, Malaysia, and Cambodia.   The decision, formalised under new agreements, was announced during the recent ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur.   President Donald Trump authorised the tariff exemption measures, reversing an earlier imposition of a reciprocal 19% retaliatory tariff that had affected the nations.   The approval, reported by the news agency DetikFinance, means a variety of goods from the three Southeast Asian countries will now be able to enter the US market duty-free.   This trade concession is seen as a significant move by Washington to deepen economic cooperation and promote trade diversity across the region.     Thailand’s Reciprocal Deal Thailand and the US reached a “Reciprocal Trade” Framework Agreement designed to expand bilateral economic ties and investment.   Under the terms of the deal, Thailand committed to purchasing US agricultural products, energy supplies, and aircraft valued at over $20 billion USD.   In return, Bangkok agreed to scrap tariffs on nearly 99% of US goods. While the US retained its 19% retaliatory customs tariff on most products, it granted a 0% tariff status to certain selected Thai items.   Details concerning which Thai products are included in this exemption have not yet been released.     Malaysian Sectors Benefit Meanwhile, Malaysia secured 0% tariffs for three crucial product sectors.   Tengku Zafrul Aziz, Malaysia’s Minister of International Trade and Industry, confirmed the exemption applies to: Aerospace Equipment Pharmaceuticals Key commodities, including palm oil, cocoa, and rubber   The move is expected to significantly enhance Malaysia’s export competitiveness and strengthen its commercial relationship with the US.

SINGAPORE, Oct 27 — A 61-year-old Malaysian man who worked as a cook at a pre-school was reportedly convicted today of molesting three girls aged between one and two over a seven-month period.   According to Singapore’s The Straits Times, Teo Guan Huat inserted his hands into the toddlers’ diapers between May and November 2023, in what prosecutors described as one of the most horrendous acts of sexual abuse in a Singapore pre-school. Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Quek Lu Yi reportedly said Teo, a Singapore permanent resident, was employed only as a cook but had been allowed to help escort children to showers and put them to sleep. He was caught after a staff member reviewed CCTV footage showing him touching the victims, and was asked to resign in November 2023 before police were alerted on December 2.   Investigators later recovered deleted footage and arrested Teo on December 4.   Four women, aged between 48 and 66, were also charged for allegedly omitting information about the assaults, with one later discharged amounting to an acquittal. In court, Teo admitted to the offences, claiming he had erectile dysfunction and believed he would not be caught because the children could not speak. DPP Claire Poh said Teo had “abused the victims’ trust”, noting that the children would often hug him when they saw him. The court adjourned sentencing to November 10, with prosecutors seeking a 10-year jail term.      Malaysian pre-school cook convicted of molesting three toddler girls in Singapore while they slept | Malay Mail

Amazon is preparing to announce sweeping job cuts beginning Tuesday, CNBC has learned. The layoffs will amount to the largest cuts to Amazon’s corporate workforce in the company’s history, spanning almost every business, according to a person familiar with the matter, who asked not to be named because the details are confidential.   Amazon is expected to begin informing employees of the layoffs via email Tuesday morning, the person said. The company plans to lay off as many as 30,000 staffers across its corporate workforce, according to Reuters, which first reported the news. Amazon declined to comment. Amazon is the nation’s second-largest private employer, with more than 1.54 million staffers globally as of the end of the second quarter. That figure is primarily made up of its warehouse workforce. It has roughly 350,000 corporate employees. The planned layoffs would also represent the biggest job cuts across the tech industry since at least 2020, according to Layoffs.fyi. As of Monday, more than 200 tech companies have laid off approximately 98,000 employees since the start of the year, according to the site, which monitors job cuts in the tech sector.   Microsoft has laid off about 15,000 people so far this year, while Meta last week eliminated roughly 600 jobs within its artificial intelligence unit. Google cut more than 100 design-related roles in its cloud unit earlier this month, and Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff said in September the company laid off 4,000 customer support staffers, pointing to its increasing AI adoption as a catalyst behind the cuts. Intel’s cuts this year totaled 22,000 jobs, the most of any listed by Layoffs.fyi. The steepest year for job cuts in tech came in 2023, as the industry reckoned with soaring inflation and rising interest rates. Close to 1,200 tech companies slashed over 260,000 jobs, the site said. Over the past year, companies across industries including tech, banking, auto and retail have also pointed to the rise of generative AI as a force that’s likely to or already changing size of their workforces. Amazon has conducted rolling layoffs across the company since 2022, which has resulted in more than 27,000 employees being let go. Job reductions have continued this year, though at a smaller scale. Amazon’s cloud, stores, communications and devices divisions have been hit with layoffs in recent months. The layoffs are part of a broader cost-cutting campaign by Amazon CEO Andy Jassy that began during the Covid-19 pandemic. Jassy has also moved to simplify Amazon’s corporate structure by having fewer managers in order to “remove layers and flatten organizations.” Jassy said in June that Amazon’s workforce could shrink further as a result of the company embracing generative AI, telling staffers that the company “will need fewer people doing some of the jobs that are being done today, and more people doing other types of jobs.” “It’s hard to know exactly where this nets out over time, but in the next few years, we expect that this will reduce our total corporate workforce,” Jassy said in the June memo to staff.

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