Washington, DC - U.S. and Singaporean Government officials met today for the
second annual review of the U.S.-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (FTA). The two
sides welcomed the increase in trade between the two countries, which totalled
nearly $37 billion in 2005, up 12.6 percent since the Agreement came into force
in 2004. The United States has seen significant increases in exports to
Singapore of aerospace equipment, chemicals and construction equipment. The
officials also applauded the significant growth in investment flows in both
directions.
In addition to reviewing the significant benefits produced by the FTA so far,
the officials discussed ongoing implementation and explored ways to continue
building on the FTA to expand trade and investment between the United States and
Singapore. The two sides discussed the implementation process of Singapore’s
commitments in the telecommunications and media sectors, including ways to
improve the transparency of rule-making in these areas.
The United States and Singapore also agreed to launch discussions to consider
acceleration of the elimination of tariffs on some products under the FTA,
consistent with the process outlined in Chapter 2 of the FTA. USTR will seek
public comment on any products that might be included in this process.
In addition, the United States and Singapore exchanged ideas on how they
could continue to work together on promoting trade and intra-regional
integration in Southeast Asia.
BACKGROUND
Singapore is a key trading partner of the United States and a strong partner
on a range of economic issues, including efforts to conclude the WTO Doha
Development Agenda negotiations. Singapore is currently our 16th largest goods
trading partner with $35.8 billion in total goods trade during 2005. Trade in
services with Singapore totaled $8.3 billion in 2004. U.S. foreign direct
investment in Singapore expanded to $56.9 billion in 2004, a 13 percent increase
from 2003.
The U.S.–Singapore
FTA was signed by President Bush and then Prime Minister Goh on May 6, 2003, and
entered into force on January 1, 2004. The Agreement was the first comprehensive
U.S. FTA with an Asian nation. The FTA is a cutting-edge agreement that
eliminates tariffs, tackles non-tariff barriers, opens services markets,
strengthens intellectual property protections for our knowledge-based
industries, and enhances labor and environmental protections.
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