Singapore rejects US claims on excess capacity, forced labour in supply chains

Singapore in an official submission has denied that it enjoys a trade surplus with the United States or that its exports to the world’s largest economy are due to some form of excess capacity.

- Ovais Subhani Senior Business Correspondent

In written public comments submitted to the office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) regarding its Section 301 investigation launched on March 11, Singapore’s Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) said it understands US concerns with structural excess capacity and is ready to further engage the US on this issue.

Singapore was one of the 16 economies against which the USTR launched an investigation into the acts, policies and practices relating to structural excess capacity and production in certain manufacturing sectors.

The US government launched a series of probes to impose new and harsher tariffs after the US Supreme Court in February struck down the legal basis of President Donald Trump’s signature levies — reciprocal tariffs - imposed in 2025.

Singapore’s submission to the USTR said: “The US has enjoyed a consistent trade surplus with Singapore for over 20 years.”

MTI cited data from the US Bureau of Economic Analysis - an agency of the US Department of Commerce ~ showing that the US had a US$1.9 billion goods trade surplus and a US$25.1 billion services trade surplus with Singapore in 2024. Both the US’ goods and services trade surpluses with Singapore grew in 2025 to US$3.6 billion (S$4.6 billion) and US$29.6 billion, respectively.

Also, data from the US Census Bureau shows that the US ran trade surpluses with Singapore in 2024 in two of the three sectors highlighted in USTR’s Section 301 Initiation Notice, which is a formal announcement of an investigation.

In 2024, the US ran a trade surplus with Singapore in semiconductors and electrical equipment of US$1.8 billion and petrochemicals at US$463 million.

The trade surpluses for these sectors grew in 2025 to US$3.8 billion and US$547 million, respectively.