The United States
and Singapore announced their intent to negotiate a
free trade agreement on 16 November 2000.
Negotiations began on December 4, 2000 in
Washington, D.C. The first round of negotiations
consisted of three week-long negotiating sessions in
plenary and meetings of fifteen subject-specific
groups. A draft was produced, including a table of
contents. The second round took place 8-17January
2001, in Washington D.C. The Parties agreed on a
Joint Declaration on the progress of the
negotiations. The third round of negotiations was
held 21-26 May 2001 in Singapore, which produced a
consolidated text. The fourth round of negotiations
was held in London, England, from 16 - 20 July 2001.
The fifth round, postponed from September 21, was
held during the week of 22-26 October. The sixth
round of negotiations was held in London the week of
28 January - 1 February. Additional rounds were held
throughout 2002, and the negotiations concluded
after the eleventh round, which took place from 11
to 19 November 2002 in Singapore. An additional
meeting was held in January 2003 to resolve the
issue of capital controls. In October 2002 the USTR
notified the U.S. Congress of the ongoing FTA
negotiations.
The U.S. Singapore FTA (USSFTA) negotiations
concluded 16 January 2003. On 30 Janaury 2003 the
USTR notified Congress of the intention to sign
the USSFTA. Draft texts of the agreement were made
public on 8 March 2003. The FTA was signed on 6
May 2003.
The U.S.-Singapore Free Trade Agreement came into
force on 1 January 2004.
The implementing legislation was submitted to
Congress on 15 July 2003. The bill to
implement the United States-Singapore Free Trade
Agreement, H.R. 2739, passed the House of
Representatives on 24 July 2003 and passed the
Senate on 31 July 2003. The United
States-Singapore Free Trade Agreement Implementation
Act was signed by the president on and became
public law 108-78 on 3 September 2003. The
President issued a proclamation to implement the
U.S.-Singapore Free Trade Agreement on 30 December
2003.
Documents relating to the implementation of the Agreement
Article
20.1 of the USSFTA establishes a Joint Committee
to supervise the implementation of the Agreement and
to review the trade relationship between the
Parties.
In March 2006 officials from the two countries met
to hold the second annual review of the Agreement. The third review was held in Singapore on 11 May 2007, the fourth was held on 15 October 2008, the fifth on 03 December 2009, and the sixth annual review of the FTA was held on 15 October 2010.
Documents relating to the implementation of the Agreement
