The Hill: Why TPP matters for the U.S. services sector

10/12/2016

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October 12th, 2016 | BY: CHRISTINE BLISS As Congress debates how best to grow the American economy, business leaders know the services sector is vital to our economic growth and competitiveness. Trade agreements, like the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), would significantly benefit the largest and fastest growing sector in the U.S. economy. Services account for 78 percent of total U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) and 82 percent of the American workforce. Internationally, the United States is the world’s largest and most competitive services economy. Our services companies are global leaders across a wide-range of industries, exporting services worth more than $710 billion and generating a trade surplus of over $230 billion in 2014. These services exports supported an estimated 4.8 million jobs in 2014, including jobs in information technology, financial services, media and entertainment, express delivery, distribution, and telecommunications, among others. An incredibly important—and often overlooked—fact is that American services companies are increasingly essential to the competitiveness of our manufacturing companies and agricultural producers.

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