Written reply to PQ on US-Singapore economic cooperation and trade in past five years and possible growth areas under new Trump administration

Question

Mr Neil Parekh Nimil Rajnikant: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade and Industry (a) what is the Ministry's assessment of the state of economic cooperation and bilateral trade relations between Singapore and the United States in the past five years; and (b) what are the particular areas in which the Government would like to grow economic and trade ties further under the new Trump administration.

Written Answer (to be attributed to the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong)

1. Singapore and the United States (US) share long-standing and robust economic cooperation and bilateral trade relations, underpinned by the US-Singapore Free Trade Agreement that came into effect in 2004. We have expanded and deepened these links over the past five years. Bilateral trade increased from S$175 billion in 2018 to S$287 billion in 2022.¹ The US has also had a consistent trade surplus with Singapore over the past two decades and this stood at US$28 billion (approximately S$38 billion) in 2023.²

2. The US is Singapore’s largest foreign investor with around 6,000 American companies based here. US investment stock into Singapore has almost doubled from S$292 billion in 2018 to S$574 billion in 2022.³

3. Singapore’s direct investment stock into the US increased from S$36 billion in 2018 to S$47 billion in 2022⁴, and we were the third largest Asian investor in the US that year⁵. There are currently over 200 Singapore companies operating in around 40 US states.

4. Over the past five years, Singapore has worked closely with the US to deepen our economic cooperation in new areas such as the digital economy, critical and emerging technologies, and civil nuclear cooperation. We are part of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity, which has brought into effect agreements on supply chains, the clean economy and fair economy.

5. Singapore has worked well with past US governments, and will continue to work with the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump to strengthen our mutually beneficial economic ties.

Notes:

[1] Source: DOS (latest figures available)

[2] Source: US Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA)

[3] Source: DOS (latest figures available)

[4] Source: DOS (latest figures available)

[5] Source: US BEA, Foreign Direct Investment Position in the US on a Historical-Cost Basis, by country of Ultimate Beneficial Owner