Singapore's Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong cautioned that the United States' move toward a narrower, bilateral and transactional approach to international trade could conflict with fundamental economic realities. Highlighting the enduring nature of market forces, Lee emphasized that economic law and human incentives cannot be easily overridden. "You cannot repeal an economic law, whether you follow it or not, the economic law exists," he said, underscoring that nations and individuals act in their own interests, driven by powerful market incentives that are challenging to dismantle.