On 1 January 2004, the USOCoSingapore Free Trade Agreement (USSFTA)came into force. The USSFTA was the result of a two-year negotiationprocess which started towards the end of the Clinton Administrationand concluded under the Bush Administration. How did the negotiationprocess straddle the two administrations? What is the rationale forthe FTA? What were the unique features of the negotiating process? Wasnegotiating with the US different from negotiating with othercountries? How will the FTA benefit the two countries? What is theimpact on ASEAN, APEC and the WTO? This book captures some of the personal insights thrown up in thenegotiations and offers highlights and analysis of theUSSFTA. Contributors to the volume include the Chief Negotiators ofthe two delegations, the US and Singapore Ambassadors, key negotiatorsand close observers of the process. Selected key documents pertainingto the USSFTA process have also been included. This book is acomprehensive reader on the story behind the negotiations of theUSSFTA."

On 31 July 2003, the Senate and, on July 24, the House passed H.R.2739 (United States-Singapore Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act) which is to implement the U.S. - Singapore Free Trade Agreement (FTA). The FTA would, with a phase-in period, eliminate tariffs on all goods traded between the United States and Singapore, cover trade in services, and protect intellectual property rights. The agreement has received support from the business community and consumer organisations but has been criticised by labour and some environmental interests. Some of the specific concerns raised deal with the restrictions on penalties for unresolvable disputes over labour and environmental issues, the Integrated Sourcing Initiative, potential capital controls, temporary visas, and access for U.S. exports of chewing gum. Since Singapore is a relatively small economy, the economic effects of the U.S. - Singapore Free Trade Agreement, by themselves, are not likely to be great. free trade interests who would benefit from more liberalised trade, particularly in services, and labour or anti-globalisation interests who oppose more FTA's because of the overall impact of imports on jobs and the general effects of globalisation on income distribution, certain jobs, and the environment. Specific provisions of the agreement also have generated debate. This book discusses the problems and issues that the Free Trade Agreement has brought up.

With jobless recoveries the issue du jour, free trade has become a wedge issue of considerable importance in the developed countries. This book hones in on free trade areas and their role in this complex globalisation process. CONTENTS: Preface; Free Trade Agreements: Impact on US Trade and Implications for US Trade Policy (William H. Cooper); The US-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (Dick K. Nanto); Free Trade Agreements with Singapore and Chile: Labor Issues (Mary Jane Bolle); The US-Chile Free Trade Agreement: Economic and Trade Policy Issues (J. F. Hornbeck); Agricultural Trade in a US- Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) (Remy Jurenas); A Free Trade Area of the Americas: Status of Negotiations and Major Policy Issues (J. F. Hornbeck); US -- Jordan Free Trade Agreement (Mary Jane Bolle); Index.