Reframing ‘Brand Singapore’ for an ‘America First’ era needs business support

FOR decades, the US prized partners that upheld the rule of law, kept markets open and met high standards on trade and investment – making Singapore the natural choice for its first Asian free trade agreement partner.

Singapore’s values and commitments to the US have not changed.

For the US, that calculus has shifted as those values are not priorities of an “America First” trade agenda.

Singapore has suddenly found itself swept into US investigations of unfair trade practices alongside economies to which it bears little resemblance.

Prime Minister Lawrence Wong highlighted this new world in his National Day message on Saturday (Aug 8): “Conflicts have spread. Trade barriers have gone up. Trust between nations has weakened, and cooperation that once seemed routine can no longer be taken for granted.”

Despite the Ministry of Trade and Industry’s contention that Singapore does not condone the use of forced labour and has a comprehensive enforcement framework and good track record against such illegal practices within our borders, the US has gone ahead with a 12.5 per cent tariff anyway.

The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) claims that Singapore, among 60 economies, has failed to impose prohibitions on trade in goods produced with forced labour.

At the same time, the US presses for more Singapore investment into America.

A second wave of “excess capacity” measures looms over Singapore and 15 other targeted economies, even though the US’ own data points to market-driven utilisation rather than state-driven overcapacity.

While an outcome is pending, Singapore should prepare, given the direction of US President Donald Trump’s trade policy to impose tariffs whenever possible.

Under previous US administrations, including Trump 1.0, it would have been hard to imagine Singapore in this category. But that era no longer exists.

“Brand Singapore” now must mean something different to Washington – and the businesses that thrive here have the responsibility to help define it.

Winning the legal argument no longer enough

Singapore has responded to the US investigation with point-by-point refutation in comprehensive written comment and quiet consultations.

Regardless, Washington stretches its Section 301 process from traditional unfair-trade disputes to structural overcapacity and forced labour to meet an end goal – a subjective toolkit that can ensnare even close partners.

The US-Singapore Free Trade Agreement and strong legal arguments appear to carry limited weight. Government and business instincts for public caution and quiet competence are no longer enough.

For decades, meticulous preparation, respect for process and a refusal to grandstand helped Singapore build one of the world’s most trusted economies and a unique relationship with successive US administrations which American businesses and others leveraged.

The current investigations show why everyone with a stake in Singapore’s success must better explain its record and remind Washington why this country’s rise has been so exceptional – and how it benefits the US.

Exempting Singapore advances “America First”

Singapore cannot rely only on its reputation as a pillar of the rules-based trading system, quiet diplomacy and narrow legal rebuttals. Doing so risks normalising a future in which its exports will be periodically taxed or questioned.

US tariffs are likely here to stay through this administration and the next, regardless of who occupies the White House.

The times require a multi-stranded strategy: legal precision married with political framing, stakeholder mobilisation and narrative reach, ensuring not just ministers and technocrats tell the Singapore story.

Businesses and investors need to frame the case not only as a defence against tariffs but also as an affirmative argument that exempting Singapore effectively advances an “America First” agenda.

It means demonstrating, with data, how Singapore-origin goods support US jobs, supply-chain resilience and higher labour standards than alternative sourcing hubs.

That message comes most powerfully from businesses and workers in the US. They must show that penalising Singapore raises costs for US manufacturers while rewarding economies with weaker governance and laxer labour enforcement.

Tariffs on Singapore also set a bad precedent with a trusted partner at a moment when the US needs true friends in Asia.

Broadening the coalition beyond government

Any public affairs campaign benefits when others join in.

In this instance, it would be best to complement Singapore’s narrative with validators from the headquarters of American companies operating in Singapore, trade associations, supply-chain managers and labour organisations.

These stakeholders can credibly make the case for the value of Singapore as a predictable, higher-standard partner. They can be more persuasive to Congress and the USTR than foreign governments, especially when they point to concrete examples of how Singapore keeps factories running, inventory moving and reputational risks low.

Washington’s environment will evolve – administrations and personalities turn over faster than supply chains.

Companies that build the record now shape what the next decision-makers inherit; those that stay quiet are stuck whatever gets written without them.

Singapore needs to identify partners, mobilise them deliberately and give them the tools to make the case. This does not mean these tariffs will be overturned immediately, but it could influence a future government.

Being part of the effort to end forced labour

Congress and US labour constituencies rightly demand visible action to protect human rights in supply chains – not just effective compliance, but proof of enforcement and a compelling narrative.

Singapore should set out its laws, enforcement track record and cooperation with international bodies, and show how companies operating here invest in due diligence and audits. High-value manufacturing and robust labour protections coexist here by design, not by accident.

Framing Singapore as a benchmark jurisdiction for ethical production and meeting global best standards gives Washington a positive model to point to, instead of adding it to a list of offenders to punish.

A brand refresh is due

The weaponisation of Section 301 may eventually pass, but how the US chooses to see Singapore will endure.

If the discussion stays narrow and legalistic – focused only on why Singapore does not deserve tariffs based on its role in the former global rules-based trading system – key opinion-shapers in Washington may miss why this city-state has outperformed almost every peer over the past half century.

A broader strategy, uncompromising on facts and confident in its narrative, offers a better route: not just the removal of an ill-fitting tariff, but also a deeper recognition that Singapore’s success advances America’s own interests.

That recognition will not emerge on its own; Singapore must marshal evidence, partners and public messaging to make the case. And businesses need to be right there with them.

Singapore and businesses alike need not repudiate their traditional playbook but should update it for a harder era – one that rewards those who can defend their record and project a clear, consistent story about who they are.

The most credible messengers are those that profit from Singapore’s success every day: companies whose factories run, inventories move, and risks stay low because of it.

Singapore now faces not a temporary trade dispute but a totally changed American and, by extension, global trade-policy environment – one in which being right on the facts no longer dictates the outcome.

Singapore and like-minded countries must forge coalitions, not just between governments, and foster additional political constituency-building capabilities.

The times do not call for new values. But they require a new message delivered in an “America First” vernacular from the Singapore government and businesses alike.

Steven Okun is CEO of Apac Advisors, a Singapore-headquartered geostrategic consultancy, and David Black is founder and CEO of Blackbox Research, a Singapore-headquartered market research and insights company. Noemie Viterale contributed to the piece.