[WASHINGTON] Advancing the Biden administration’s “worker-centred trade policy” would involve building a “tripartism” within the US system in its approach to trade, US Trade Representative Katherine Tai said on Monday (Apr 29), making a reference to Singapore’s unique model of collaboration among unions, employers and the government.

“One way of understanding the worker-centred trade policy that we are advancing under President Joe Biden is the building out of a tripartism within our system in terms of how we approach trade”, she said at a reception to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the US-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (USSFTA) in Washington, DC.

“Singapore has this very strong tradition of tripartism, where it’s the government coming together with the economy represented by employers, and also by employees and workers,” she said. “And that this is the structure through which economic policy domestically and internationally really is made within Singapore.”

She said this was how she had explained to Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong who – alongside “many people in the last three-plus years” – had “spent some time probing” her in a discussion on what a “worker-centred trade policy” meant.

Addressing Minister for Trade and Industry Minister Gan Kim Yong, who was also at the reception, she said: “It was because of meetings with you, minister, and your fellow ministers within the administration in Singapore that I had the opportunity to explain to Prime Minister Lee that.”

She said the Biden administration’s view is that “trade is really about human beings, the human beings who comprise our economies”.

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“It needs to address the needs of everyday people, no matter where you live, and whether you have a college degree,” she said.

“So this is deeper than business-to-business ties, although those are very important. It is about people-to-people, it is about values-to-values,” she said, adding that the USSFTA has been “a good starting point” for both countries.

She noted that the world economy is very different today than when the FTA was first signed, and that it will likely be very different two decades from now.

On top of disruptions and shocks caused by the pandemic, Tai said people are grappling with “the reality of unfair trade practices and economic coercion”, which have led to more acute feelings of economic insecurity among underserved communities.

“Our traditional FTA approach, which saw a lot of success in this relationship, has focused on maximum lilberalisation and efficiency, and it has certainly benefited sectors of our economies,” said Tai. “But we also have to acknowledge that it has hurt other segments and certainly, our economy.”

She added: “And this is why we feel so keenly right now the need for new approaches, a new way of navigating the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead, find ways to do that together with some of our closest partners.”

She emphasised that there were ways to make trade work “without pitting parts of our economies against each other”.

“We can take our wins, and we can make them better, to be more far-reaching or equitable and as durable as this FTA has proven to be,” she said. “We are forging ahead to build our middle classes together, to shape a world that we can be proud to hand off to the next generations.”

As the US defines the next era of trade and economic policy, Tai said Singapore will continue to be a critical partner, as it has been.

She said she wanted to acknowledge the Republic’s “singular role” as an Asean member to “speak up for the developing members of Asean, and to remind us about the importance of a more inclusive approach to international economic relations”.

Tai also paid tribute to PM Lee, who is stepping down next month, for being an “invaluable partner for the United States”.

“Over the years, we’ve appreciated the deepening of US-Singapore ties during his tenure, including the implementation of our FTA,” she said.

She said the US looks forward to working with the new leadership team under Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, who will take over as premier on May 15.