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.

This book examines the causes and consequences of social standards in US and EU preferential trade agreements (PTAs). PTAs are the new reality of the global trading system. Pursued by both developed and developing countries, they increasingly incorporate labor and environmental issues to prevent a race to the bottom in social regulation and counter-protectionism. Using principal-agent theory to explore why US PTAs have stricter social standards than those signed by the EU, Postnikov argues that the level of institutional insulation of trade policy executives from interest groups and legislators determines the design of social standards. In the EU, where institutional insulation is high, social standards mirror the normative preferences of the European Commission leading to a softer approach. In the US, where such insulation is low, social standards are driven by interest groups and legislators they control, resulting in a stricter approach. This book shows that both approaches can be effective but work through different causal mechanisms. To test his argument, Postnikov draws on original data collected in Brussels, Washington, Santiago, Bogota, and Seoul. This book will be of interest to all scholars and students working in the fields of international political economy and EU and US trade policy.