Though geographically only about three times the size of Washington, DC, and with a population of about 5.9 million, the city-state of Singapore exerts economic and diplomatic influence on par with much larger countries. Its stable government, strong economic performance, educated citizenry, and strategic position along key shipping lanes afford it a large role in regional and global affairs. For the United States, Singapore has been a partner in both trade and security initiatives and an advocate of a strong U.S. role in the Asia-Pacific region. At the same time, Singapore's leaders have aimed to maintain close relations with China, and to maintain positive ties with all regional powers. The United States and Singapore have extensive trade and investment ties. The U.S.-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (FTA), which went into effect in January 2004, was the first U.S. bilateral FTA with an Asian country. In 2019, U.S.Singapore trade totaled about $91.6 billion, and Singapore was the 14th largest goods export market for the United States. That same year, the U.S. trade surplus with Singapore amounted to $18.3 billion. Singapore is a party to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Trade Partnership (CPTPP), an 11-nation agreement that evolved from the U.S.-led Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), from which the United States withdrew in 2017, and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), a 15-nation |