Updated: March 2016 Services create the vast majority of U.S. jobs.

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Top Ten Overlooked Facts About World Trade In Services
OVERLOOKED
WORLD TRADE IN SERVICES
FACTS ABOUT

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Top Ten Overlooked Facts About World Trade In Services
Services Create the Vast Majority of U.S. Jobs
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics; Gresser, Global Works Foundation.
Services employ about 98 million of
America’s 121 million private sector
workers.The United States is home to
thousands of highly competitive services
companies in such sectors as audiovisual;
finance; insurance; energy services;
transportation,logistics,and express
delivery services; information technology
services; and telecommunications.

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Top Ten Overlooked Facts About World Trade In Services
Source: World Bank; Gresser, Global Works Foundation.
Service industries account for
70% of world gross domestic
product (GDP) and employ about
3.2 billion people around the
world.The larger the share of
services in a country’s economic
output,the more prosperous that
country is likely to be.
Services Make the World More Prosperous

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Top Ten Overlooked Facts About World Trade In Services
Jobs in Services Pay Well
Source: Jensen, Peterson Institute for International Economics.
Approximately 18 million
Americans are employed in
business services such as software,
architectural services,engineering
and project management services,
and insurance—all of which
generate billions of dollars in
exports.Their wages are 20%
higher on average than those in
manufacturing,which employs
about 12 millionAmericans.

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Top Ten Overlooked Facts About World Trade In Services
America Leads World Trade in Services
Source: Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.
The United States is by far the world’s
largest exporter of services. U.S. services
exports reached $716 billion in 2015,
and the U.S. services trade surplus
reached $227 billion. In addition,
services sales by foreign affiliates of
U.S. multinational corporations top
$1.4 trillion annually.

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Top Ten Overlooked Facts About World Trade In Services
Services generate about half of U.S.
exports—measured on a value-added
basis—in large part because services
contribute significant value to the
production of factories and farms.
The same is true of other developed
economies.
Source: WTO and OECD, “Measuring Trade in Value Added.”
Services Provide the Lion’s Share of World Trade

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Top Ten Overlooked Facts About World Trade In Services
The Growth Potential for Services Exports Is Huge
Source: Jensen, Peterson Institute for International Economics.
While U.S.services exports lead
the world,their potential for
growth is almost untapped.One
in four U.S.factories exports,but
just one in every 20 providers of
business services does so.Just 3%
of U.S.services output is exported.

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Top Ten Overlooked Facts About World Trade In Services
The Trade in Services Agreement Promises Big Benefits
Source: Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.
The United States is now pursuing a high-standard trade agreement in services dubbed
the Trade in Services Agreement (TISA). 50 countries* are taking part, and they generate
70% of world trade in services.This exciting new accord has the potential to ignite
economic growth and job creation in the United States and abroad.

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Top Ten Overlooked Facts About World Trade In Services
Eliminating barriers to trade in services
could boost U.S. services exports by as
much as $860 billion—up from 2015’s
record $716 billion—to as much as
$1.5 trillion. Such a dramatic increase
could create as many as three million
American jobs.The TISA is a once-in-a-
lifetime chance to address these trade
barriers across dozens of countries.
Source: Jensen, Peterson Institute for International Economics.
Eliminating ServicesTrade Barriers Could Create Millions of Jobs

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Top Ten Overlooked Facts About World Trade In Services
Exports of Services Can Take Several Paths
Source: WTO.
For example,a U.S.-based software company
can export its products via the Internet (“cross-
border trade,”known as mode 1),provide
training to its staff based in Spanish-speaking
countries in Panama (“consumption abroad,”
mode 2),sell service contracts through a
Japanese affiliate (“commercial presence,”
mode 3),and employ a Dutch national with
an H-1B visa at its headquarters (“movement
of natural persons,”mode 4).All four“modes”
are important for companies doing business in
today’s global economy.

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Top Ten Overlooked Facts About World Trade In Services
U.S.services companies have invested
more than $1.6 trillion abroad,
creating more than 25,000 foreign
affiliates in the process.These firms
sold $1.4 trillion worth of services to
foreign customers in 2013—a sum
equivalent to 8% of U.S.GDP.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis; Gresser, Global Works Foundation.
Investment Abroad Is a Key Part of U.S. Services Exports

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Top Ten Overlooked Facts About World Trade In Services
References
Edward Gresser,“ServicesTrade Liberalization as a Foundation of Global Recovery,”
Progressive Economy Project at the GlobalWorks Foundation,prepared for the Coalition
of Service Industries: February 24,2012.
J.Bradford Jensen,GlobalTrade in Services: Fear,Facts,and Offshoring,Peterson
Institute for International Economics: September 2011.
WorldTrade Organization (WTO) and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Development (OECD),MeasuringTrade inValueAdded,joint initiative and database
(www.oecd.org/trade/valueadded): March 15,2012 (ongoing).

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Top Ten Overlooked Facts About World Trade In Services
*Bonus fact: 50 countries are taking
part in theTISA negotiations:Australia,
Canada,Chile,ChineseTaipei,
Colombia,Costa Rica,the European
Union (on behalf of its 28 member
states),Hong Kong China,Iceland,
Israel,Japan,Liechtenstein,Mauritius,
Korea,Mexico,New Zealand,Norway,
Pakistan,Panama,Paraguay,Peru,
Switzerland,andTurkey as well as the
United States.

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Top Ten Overlooked Facts About World Trade In Services
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