Gan and Tai co-chair USSFTA joint committee meeting

Singapore and the United States will continue to share longstanding and comprehensive bilateral relations.

Minister for Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong and United States Trade Representative Ambassador Katherine Tai co-chaired a Joint Committee Meeting of the United States-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (USSFTA) on 8 October.

Gan and Tai reaffirmed the strong economic relationship between Singapore and the US and agreed that the USSFTA, the US' first FTA in Asia, continues to be a high-performing and mutually beneficial agreement for Singaporean and American businesses and people. They also had wide-ranging discussions on how Singapore and the US could collaborate in several areas like digital trade, environment and green economy, supply chain resilience, and ways to support workers. In addition, they exchanged views on recent developments in global trade and underscored Singapore and the US' continued commitment to working together to address common economic interests at regional and multilateral forums.

According to Gan, "The Joint Committee Meeting is a testament to the USSFTA's significance as a cornerstone of the robust economic partnership between Singapore and the US. It is a living and dynamic agreement and continues to be a key platform for our countries to discuss trade and economic issues of mutual interest. The meeting also reinforced Singapore and the US' shared interests in new and forward-looking areas such as the digital and green economies and enhancing supply chain resilience. Singapore looks forward to deepening our cooperation with the US in these areas to unlock opportunities for our workers and businesses of all sizes, especially SMEs."

Since the USSFTA's implementation on 1 January 2004, bilateral goods and services trade has more than doubled to an estimated $91.96b (SGD124.4b) in 2019. The US is Singapore's top trading partner in services, the third-largest trading partner in goods, and the largest foreign direct investor with investment stock in Singapore worth $316.39b (SGD428b) in 2019. In turn, Singapore is the US' largest trade partner in ASEAN and second-largest Asian investor with a direct investment stock of over $65b.