By Megan Cheah
The U.S. has withdrawn an "inaccurate statement" on its bilateral trade balances with Singapore amid Washington's trade probes into several Asian economies.
Gan Siow Huang, Singapore's minister of state for trade and industry, said Tuesday that the city state ran a goods and services trade deficit of $27 billion with the U.S. in 2024. Earlier figures cited by the U.S. Trade Representative said that Singapore had a trade surplus of $27 billion with the U.S. that year.
The trade office has since removed this statement from its Federal Register notice, Gan said. "We should not speculate on the basis for or outcomes of these investigations," she added, noting they are ongoing.
Washington's latest trade probes, opened under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, target excess industrial capacity in several economies in Asia, causing concern that higher tariffs are on the way.
Asian economies including China, Singapore and Thailand were named in the probe, which the trade office said will focus on economies that seem to "exhibit structural excess capacity and production in various manufacturing sectors, such as through large or persistent trade surpluses or underutilized or unused capacity."
Write to Megan Cheah at megan.cheah@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
04-07-26 0200ET
