Singapore to engage with USTR on Trump's trade probes

March 12 (Reuters) - Singapore will engage with the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) to ‌seek further clarification on trade data and section ‌301 investigations, the country's ministry of trade and industry said on ​Thursday.

U.S. President Donald Trump's administration launched a new trade investigation on Wednesday into excess industrial capacity in 16 major trading partners in a move to rebuild tariff pressure ‌after the U.S. Supreme ⁠Court tore down the centerpiece of Trump's tariff program last month.

According to the USTR’s ⁠notice, Singapore is highlighted as having a trade surplus of $27 billion with the U.S. in 2024, Singapore's ministry of ​trade said, ​adding that on the ​contrary, the country had a ‌total trade deficit of $27 billion with the US in 2024.

The ministry also said that the country's industrial space occupancy rates are "very healthy" at around 90%, contradicting the USTR notice which suggested that Singapore has continued to expand manufacturing ‌capacity despite a drop in ​industrial occupancy rates.

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson ​Greer has said ​a "Section 301" unfair trade practices investigation could ‌lead to new tariffs imposed ​against China, the ​European Union, India, Japan, South Korea and Mexico by this summer.

Other trading partners subject to the excess ​capacity probe ‌include Taiwan, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia, Singapore, Indonesia, ​Bangladesh, Switzerland and Norway.

(Reporting by Akanksha Khushi in ​Bengaluru; Editing by Toby Chopra)