Although the service sector has been largely ignored in the world trade system, trade in services has in the past two decades become an important source of jobs and economic growth. In 1980 global service exports totaled about $370 billion, about 20 percent of world trade. Yet no coherent system of rules and procedures governs trade in services. Multilateral trade negotiations did not even consider services until Tokyo Round negotiations of the mid-1970s, and then only at US insistence. Since then US persistence has begun to reap results. Trade in services was one of the three most debated issues at the November 1982 General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) ministerial meeting, and the May 1983 Williamsburg Summit's closing statement included a commitment to work toward free trade in services. Do services merit a prominent place in the trade agenda of the United States? Even if services deserve a high priority in principle, is it feasible to negotiate general rules for the services trade under GATT? Are other countries willing to change their longstanding history of regulation of services markets and to expose their national firms to the challenges of large US service firms? If the United States enters into multilateral negotiations on services, what might it expect to achieve?

The benefits of open markets are tangible. In the last decade, countries that have been more open to trade and investment have achieved double the average annual growth of more closed economies. More individuals, firms and nations than ever before depend on the gains from trade and investment liberalisation. Yet anxiety about the effects of greater market integration remains. It is essential for long-term world prosperity that countries' commitment to trade and investment liberalisation be sustained. To be credible, that commitment must be rooted in and enjoy broad public support and understanding. This makes it all the more important to communicate what trade and investment liberalisation can and cannot do and be held responsible for. Trade and investment liberalisation is not painless. It should not be viewed as a cure-all nor presented as an end in itself. It is, however, an essential component of any coherent set of policies aimed at helping societies adjust to - and take advantage of - technology-driven transformations whose pace and depth are unprecedented. The stakes are high. This book examines the various channels through which open markets deliver considerable benefits to societies and their citizens; recalls the real pocket-book costs of protectionism; and addresses the full range of concerns that feature prominently in ongoing discussions over the effects of market liberalisation on employment, income distribution, environmental protection and national sovereignty. A central message of this book is that liberalisation forms part of the solution to the concerns of citizens, rather than being their root cause. The book's comprehensive treatment of the ins and outs of trade and investment liberalisation should make an important contribution to the public debate. It is essential reading for public officials, business leaders and private citizens who wish to take an active part in it.

The author examines the special role that trade liberalization in services industries can play in stimulating trade in both services, and goods. International trade in goods requires inputs from such trade services as transportation, insurance, and finance, for example. Restrictions on services across borders, and within foreign countries add costs, and barriers to international trade. Liberalizing trade in services could also facilitate trade in goods, providing more benefits than one might expect from analysis merely of the services trade. To emphasize the point, the author notes that the benefits for trade are arguably enhanced by the phenomenon of fragmentation. The more that production processes become split across locations, with the fragments tied together, and coordinated by various trade services, the greater the gains from reductions in the costs of services. The incentives for such fragmentation can be greater across countries, than within countries, because of the greater differences in factor prices, and technologies. But the service costs of international fragmentation can also be larger, especially if regulations, and restrictions impede the international provision of services. As a result, trade liberalization in services can stimulate the fragmentation of production of both goods, and services, thus increasing international trade, and the gains from trade even further. Since fragmentation seems to characterize an increasing portion of world specialization, the importance of service liberalization is growing apace.

This book provides one of the first interdisciplinary reviews of the relationship between services, globalisation and trade liberalisation as we enter the twenty-first century. Written by academics and policymakers, it contains a detailed analysis of the characteristics of service trade and of recent and current service trade negotiations.

The service sector is the most important sector for most developed economies being the largest contributor to gross domestic product, production, and employment. Developing economies on the other hand have a comparative advantage in labor services, however, the export of many of these services is limited by many restrictions on the temporary movement of labor imposed through domestic regulation. This study provides a comprehensive overview of the international trade in services focusing on market access in foreign markets. It also explains how developing economies are dealing with the issue of trade restrictions so as to spur development of the service sector.

Trade in services is an increasingly important part of global trade and, as such, figures prominently in multilateral, regional and bilateral trade negotiations. In this volume of essays, academics, negotiators and experts from various international organizations explore the achievements of such negotiations, together with the challenges and opportunities which arise and the motivations that come into play in such negotiations. The contributions highlight issues in important services sectors, such as distribution, energy, finance, telecommunications, air transport and the postal and audiovisual sectors, as well as areas such as cross-border trade and government procurement. Case studies look into the experiences of specific countries. The focus on sector analysis and country experiences sheds light on the state of services liberalization and the regulation of international trade in services at the beginning of the twenty-first century, making this an indispensable guide to ongoing and future international negotiations on this topic.