New trade machete

17 January 2013 By Martin Hutchinson

With global trade talks stymied and bilateral deals proliferating, a multilateral services deal among mostly rich countries could cover a lot of trade and address numerous knotty problems. Even without the BRICs, it would fight creeping protectionism and should bring big returns.

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U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk announced on Jan. 15 that the United States would enter into negotiations with a group of 20 trading partners, representing two-thirds of global trade in services, for a services trade agreement. Potential partners include the EU, Japan, Korea, Australia, Canada and Mexico but not Brazil, Russia, India or China, whose governments have said that a new global agreement must cover agriculture and manufacturing as well as services.
U.S. services exports totaled almost $586 billion in 2011, with imports of $393 billion; both figures have approximately doubled since 2000. Of the $586 billion, $116 billion represented travel services, $74 billion financial services, $134 billion business, professional and technical services and $121 billion royalties and license fees.
International sales of services by U.S. companies totaled $1.7 trillion in 2011. World trade in services (exports plus imports) totaled $4.24 trillion in 2011, according to United Nations Conference on Trade and Development statistics, up 179 percent or 9.8 percent per annum since 2000, and 19 percent of total trade in goods and services which had increased 182 percent since 2000.
Global services trade is covered by the General Agreement on Trade in Services, signed in 1995 as part of the Uruguay Round of trade liberalization, under which World Trade Organization members may severally liberalize elements of trade in services.

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