[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 39, Number 29 (Monday, July 21, 2003)]
[Pages 919-920]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Message to the Congress Transmitting Proposed Legislation To Implement 
the United States-Singapore Free Trade Agreement

July 15, 2003

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 America's 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 
telecommunications. 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 environment 
for

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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.