Background: Digital trade has become a major component of international exchange, and the EU has increasingly moved toward dedicated rules for the digital economy. Objectives: This paper examines whether the EU–Singapore Digital Trade Agreement (EUSDTA) should be seen as a limited bilateral development or as a broader shift in EU trade policy. Methods/Approach: It combines qualitative legal-economic analysis of the agreement and related official documents with recent trade data and academic literature. Results: The paper argues that the EUSDTA is significant because it is the EU’s first stand-alone digital trade agreement, reflects the importance of digitally delivered trade in EU–Singapore relations, reduces transaction costs in key areas of digital commerce, and seeks to balance trade liberalisation with privacy, data protection, and regulatory autonomy. It also carries strategic importance by extending EU-style digital rules into the Indo-Pacific. Conclusions: The EUSDTA is best understood as an evolutionary step in EU trade policy, marking the development of a distinct EU approach to digital trade governance. Since it entered into force only on 1 February 2026, its longer-term effects will require ex post evaluation. Originality: The article contributes by linking legal design, economic rationale, and geopolitical standard-setting in a single assessment of the EUSDTA. It explains why the agreement matters beyond the EU-Singapore relationship, including for EU Member States whose exposure to digital trade is mediated through EU-level rules. It also identifies implementation risks related to data transfers, regulatory access, and future ex post evaluation.