Earlier this week I read a promising report over at Global Trade Magazine.
According to the article, Talks On The Global Trade In Services To Begin ‘Soon, the U.S. Trade Department has advised Congress of the Obama administration’s plan to enter into negotiations to expand global trade in services.
The 18 countries expected to participate in the negotiations are Canada, Norway, Switzerland, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Japan, Singapore, Taiwan, Mexico, Chile, Colombia, Peru, Costa Rica, Israel, Pakistan, Turkey and the US, as well as Hong Kong and the 27-member European Union.
The global trade in services negotiations offer large growth opportunities for all companies engaged in supplying global services including legal services, financial services; insurance, banking and brokerage telecommunications, health care and hospitality services– among others.
Services are a growing segment of international trade, accounting for a staggering $8 trillion in 2011, according to WTO statistics.
The countries involved in the talks account for about 70 percent of global commerce.
That’s great new for the global economy following years of negative growth.
Closer to home, the global expansion of U.S. trade services will have an immense impact on job creation.
According to the U.S. trade office, for every $1 billion in U.S. services exports, an estimated 4,200 jobs in the U.S. are generated.
If business services achieved the same export potential as manufactured goods globally, U.S. exports could increase by as much as $800 billion.
While the global trade in services initiative has the potential to create thousands of jobs, let’s hope negotiations are concluded sooner rather than later.