On 31 July 2003, the Senate and, on July 24, the House passed H.R.2739 (United States-Singapore Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act) which is to implement the U.S. - Singapore Free Trade Agreement (FTA). The FTA would, with a phase-in period, eliminate tariffs on all goods traded between the United States and Singapore, cover trade in services, and protect intellectual property rights. The agreement has received support from the business community and consumer organisations but has been criticised by labour and some environmental interests. Some of the specific concerns raised deal with the restrictions on penalties for unresolvable disputes over labour and environmental issues, the Integrated Sourcing Initiative, potential capital controls, temporary visas, and access for U.S. exports of chewing gum. Since Singapore is a relatively small economy, the economic effects of the U.S. - Singapore Free Trade Agreement, by themselves, are not likely to be great. free trade interests who would benefit from more liberalised trade, particularly in services, and labour or anti-globalisation interests who oppose more FTA's because of the overall impact of imports on jobs and the general effects of globalisation on income distribution, certain jobs, and the environment. Specific provisions of the agreement also have generated debate. This book discusses the problems and issues that the Free Trade Agreement has brought up.

Free trade has become the mantra of development strategy for many countries in the world, especially those in the Asia Pacific. This book delves into the American side of the story. It is about how Singapore and the United States came to sign the agreement in 2003 (taking effect from 1 January 2004). The United States - Singapore Free Trade Agreement (USSFTA) is the first FTA that America signed with an Asian country and the second such agreement with a fully developed country, after Canada. The city-state has used a free trade agreement as both a national survival and a growth strategy, first forging such FTA ties with its major trading partners and then expanding its strategic link to such extra-regional great powers as the United States, Japan, Australia, China, India, and the European Union. Both Singapore and the United States saw in FTAs something more than just merchandise trade.

On 1 January 2004, the US-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (USSFTA) came into force. The USSFTA was the result of a two-year negotiation process which started towards the end of the Clinton Administration and concluded under the Bush Administration. How did the negotiation process straddle the two administrations? What is the rationale for the FTA? What were the unique features of the negotiating process? Was negotiating with the US different from negotiating with other countries? How will the FTA benefit the two countries? What is the impact on ASEAN, APEC and the WTO?This book captures some of the personal insights thrown up in the negotiations and offers highlights and analysis of the USSFTA. Contributors to the volume include the Chief Negotiators of the two delegations, the US and Singapore Ambassadors, key negotiators and close observers of the process. Selected key documents pertaining to the USSFTA process have also been included. This book is a comprehensive reader on the story behind the negotiations of the USSFTA.

As part of its trade policy, Singapore has embarked on what can be broadly termed "new regionalism". Beyond examining the motivations behind these trade moves, the authors also analyse the trade and investment linkages between Singapore and Japan and the United States in some detail.