The Progressive Policy Institute's "Trade Fact of the Week" from last week deals with the growth of international and U.S. trade in services, and the regional origins of U.S service exports: Rhode Island, Nevada, and the District of Columbia are U.S.' Most Service-Intensive Exporters (Oct 10):
The U.S. is likely to be among the first countries to reach parity between goods and services exports, sometime in the late 2020s. This is because the United States relies more heavily than almost any other major economy on services exports. (Peers include the U.K., India, and Ireland.) In 2005, Americans exported about $2.30 in goods for every dollar in services exports; the ratio for the rest of the world was $4.60 in goods per dollar of services. If travel and tourism revenues are set aside the disparity sharpens, with "other" services making up a fifth of American exports, and a fourteenth for the rest of the world. And hype about "offshoring" notwithstanding, the United States is much more of a services seller than buyer. The U.S. services trade surplus, consistent since the early 1970s, is likely to top $100 billion for the first time this year and may exceed $110 billion.
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