SINGAPORE – The Singapore Business Federation (SBF) urged Washington to steer clear of trade measures that could disrupt deeply intertwined supply chains that benefit the two nations, in a statement shared on April 16.
It warned that unilateral tariffs and other import restrictions could backfire, raising costs and disrupting supply chains for US companies using Singapore as a regional base and logistic node.
SBF’s chief executive officer, Mr Kok Ping Soon, said Singapore’s investments support over 250,000 American jobs.
“We urge the US Administration to recognise our shared commitment to fair, market-oriented trade and to avoid measures that would disrupt the deeply intertwined supply chains that benefit both our nations,” Mr Kok said.
The federation – which represents over 34,000 companies and advocates for Singapore businesses in areas of trade, investments and industrial relations – stressed that the United States enjoys a trade surplus and extensive investments links with the Republic under the more than two-decade old US-Singapore Free Trade Agreement.
In its formal feedback to the US Trade Representative (USTR) regarding two investigations – one on industrial over capacity and the other on imports made with forced labour, SBF said Singapore’s acts, policies, and practices are neither “unreasonable” nor “discriminatory”, and do not “burden or restrict” US commerce.
Prepared in consultation with 10 Singapore-based trade associations and chambers, SBF position papers highlighted that the US runs a “substantial and growing” overall trade surplus with Singapore of about US$27 billion (S$34.3 billion) in 2024, widening to about US$33.3 billion in 2025.
This contradicts claims that Singapore’s practices disadvantaged US commerce.
The 10 associates and chambers included the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry Singapore, Singapore Manufacturing Federation, Singaporean-German Chamber of Industry and Commerce, Singapore Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Singapore International Chamber of Commerce.
SBF also pointed out that about 6,600 US companies operate in Singapore, with extensive two-way investment and integration across supply chains.
On the investigation into structural excess capacity, SBF said Singapore’s manufacturing sector was “demand-led and commercially driven”, shaped by market discipline and high operating costs that discourage below-cost pricing and state-directed overproduction.
SBF stressed that much of Singapore’s trade reflects is role as a global hub, and entrepot and re-export activities should be distinguished from domestic overproduction.
Addressing the investigations of forced labour, SBF emphasised the Republic’s “strong and actively enforced” framework prohibiting forced labour under both constitutional and criminal law. These are complemented by robust enforcement tools and penalties including under anti‑trafficking legislation, it added.
SBF pointed out that the US Department of State’s 2025 Trafficking in Persons Report ranks Singapore as a tier 1 country, the highest ranking for combating trafficking and forced labour.
Singapore based exporters already comply with US import requirements including Section 307 of the US Tariff Act, and there has been no evidence of goods produced with forced labour entering the US from Singapore.
SBF called for “clear, harmonised international verification standards” on forced labour, as a trade ban risks trade diversion without resolving root causes.
The federation urged the US to address any concerns related to excess capacity or labour through established cooperative mechanisms, including the US-Singapore FTA Joint Committee and rules‑based multilateral frameworks.
Singapore’s Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) has also filed two written submissions to the Office of the United States Trade Representative on Apr 15, rejecting accusations that it tolerates forced labour in its supply chains and maintains excess industrial capacity in violation of fair trade norms.
MTI pointed out that in two of the three specific sectors flagged in the USTR’s initiation notice – semiconductors and electrical equipment, and petrochemicals – the US ran trade surpluses with Singapore in 2024 of US$1.8 billion and US$463 million, respectively. Both of these figures increased in 2025.
The only sector where the US ran a deficit with Singapore was pharmaceuticals, where the gap narrowed from US$17.7 billion in 2024 to US$12.9 billion in 2025.
