That said, the allegations appear to be based on questionable grounds.
An earlier version of the USTR notice highlighted Singapore as having a US$27 billion trade surplus in both goods and services with the US in 2024. This was disputed by Singapore’s Ministry of Trade and Industry, which pointed to US government data that showed Singapore had a US$27 billion trade deficit with the US in 2024.
A subsequent version of the USTR notice removed the claim, though it maintained that Singapore has “large or persistent trade surpluses” that contributed to global manufacturing overcapacity.
Questions also surround the forced labour investigation. The USTR asserts that even though countries such as Canada and Mexico have adopted measures to stop the sale of products made using forced labour, such measures are “insufficient” and result in US firms being unfairly exposed to “artificially low-cost imports”.
For one, the fact that the list of 60 countries under investigation are made up of US’ key trading partners and exclude countries that the US government has previously criticised for using forced labour, such as Laos and Myanmar, casts doubt on the allegations.
The timeline appears to be accelerated as well, with public hearings for the excess capacity probe scheduled between May 5 and May 8, and April 28 to May 1 for the forced labour investigation. In either case, it would be challenging for all affected countries to plead their cases within four working days.
