For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
July 15, 2003
Message to the Congress of the United States
TO THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES:
I am pleased to transmit legislation and supporting documents to
implement the United States-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (FTA). The
Agreement will further open Singapore's markets and increase
competition and consumer choice. This is America's first FTA with an
Asian-Pacific nation, and we hope it will serve as a benchmark for
future free trade agreements with other nations in the region. The
Agreement will enhance prosperity in the United States and Singapore,
serve the interest of expanding U.S. commerce, and advance our overall
national interest.
My Administration is strongly committed to securing a level playing
field for Americas workers, farmers, and businesses. The Congress
helped advance that policy by passing Trade Promotion Authority in the
Trade Act of 2002 (the "Trade Act"). The Congress can help us take
another important step by approving this Agreement and the implementing
legislation. Without this Agreement, U.S. workers and businesses could
be placed at a competitive disadvantage, because Singapore has signed
or is currently working on free trade agreements with Japan, Canada,
Australia, Mexico, and India.
In negotiating this FTA, my Administration was guided by the
negotiating objectives set out in the Trade Act. The Agreement locks
in tariff-free access for all U.S. goods, including textile and
agriculture products, and addresses other barriers to trade. It opens
opportunities for our services businesses, which now account for nearly
65 percent of our gross domestic product and more than 80 percent of
employment in the United States. Through this FTA, Singapore will
grant substantial additional market access to U.S. firms across a broad
spectrum of services, including banking, insurance, securities and
related financial services, express delivery services, professional
services, and tele-communications. The Agreement also incorporates
commitments on regulatory transparency that will be of special help to
services business.
This Agreement provides state-of-the-art intellectual property
protection, including significant commitments on trade in digital
products. It ensures that electronic commerce will stay free of duties
and discriminatory rules. In addition, Singapore will accede to
international treaties dealing with copyright and access issues for the
Internet.
United States citizens and businesses that invest in Singapore will
have significant increased protections. This Agreement enhances
transparency and openness in order to foster a more secure environ-ment
for trade and investment. Furthermore, Singapore will provide U.S.
investors with important substantive protections that Singaporean
investors already enjoy in the United States.
Singapore and the United States have also agreed to cooperate on
the environment and labor issues and to establish mechanisms to support
those efforts. The FTA obligates each country to enforce
its own labor and environmental laws and makes clear that domestic
labor or environmental protections may not be reduced in order to
encourage trade or investment. The Agreement also preserves our right
to pursue other legitimate domestic objectives, including the
protection of health and safety, consumer interests, and national
security.
Trade and openness contribute to development, the rule of law,
economic growth, and international cooperation. Singapore is a close
partner of the United States, and this Agreement will strengthen those
ties.
With the approval of this Agreement and passage of the implementing
legislation by the Congress, we will advance U.S. economic, security,
and political interests, while encouraging others to work with us to
expand free trade around the world.
GEORGE W. BUSH
THE WHITE HOUSE,
July 15, 2003.
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