Trade Shifts 2013 Overall Economic Performance

Michael Stanton-Geddes

The U.S. economy grew at a rate of 1.9 percent in 2013. This growth rate was lower than the 2.8 percent increase in 2012, but similar to the 2011 growth rate. Various factors slowed economic growth in 2013, including the U.S. federal government shutdown in early October and a decrease in private investment. U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) growth in 2013 was driven by private domestic investment and increased production.

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U.S. Services Exports Grew by 9 percent from 2009-2010

 

The United States remained the world's largest services market and the world's leading exporter and importer of services in 2010, reports the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) in its publication Recent Trends in U.S. Services Trade, 2012 Annual Report.

The USITC, an independent, nonpartisan, factfinding federal agency, compiles the report annually. Each year's report presents an overview of U.S. trade in services and highlights some of the service sectors and geographic markets that contributed substantially to recent services trade performance.

This year's report focuses on infrastructure services, such as banking and telecommunications, which are essential to a country's overall economic growth and development and are used by every firm regardless of economic sector. The report also includes separate chapters on specific industries (banking, insurance, logistics, retail, securities, and telecommunications). These chapters analyze global competitive conditions in the industry, examine recent trade performance, discuss non-tariff measures that affect trade, and summarize the industry's outlook.

The 2012 report covers cross-border trade in services through 2010 and affiliate sales through 2009. Highlights of the report follow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• From 2009 to 2010, U.S. cross-border services exports increased by 9 percent (to $518 billion) while U.S. services imports grew by 6 percent (to $358 billion). This represented a recovery from the previous year, when exports and imports of services fell following the financial crisis. Infrastructure services accounted for 25 percent of total U.S. cross-border services exports and 37 percent of cross-border imports in 2010.
• Services supplied abroad by foreign affiliates of U.S. firms continued to exceed services purchased from U.S. affiliates of foreign firms, reaching $1.1 trillion and $669 billion, respectively, in 2009. Infrastructure services accounted for 60 percent of both sales and purchases of services through affiliates.
• The value added (i.e., the output minus the cost of inputs) by U.S. infrastructure services in 2010 was $3.8 trillion, equal to 43 percent of the value added by all services and 34 percent of total private sector GDP. This figure had declined in previous years as the financial crisis and ensuing recession weakened demand, but the sector's value added in 2010 represented 6 percent growth over the previous year.
• Infrastructure services employed 30 million full-time-equivalent employees in 2010, equal to 30 percent of the total U.S. private sector workforce. Retail services accounted for 13 million of these employees. In 2010, labor productivity in infrastructure services grew by 7 percent while average annual wages grew by 4 percent (to $56,000), exceeding the private sector average wage but trailing wages in goods manufacturing and professional services. Both productivity and wages varied widely among infrastructure services industries.
• Regulation is a recurring theme among infrastructure services industries covered in this year's report. For example, financial reforms enacted in 2010 affected the banking, insurance, and securities services industries. Such regulations aim to address the potential negative effects of providing services and to meet economic and social objectives. However, regulations can also represent non-tariff measures that impede the ability of services providers to enter and operate in markets.
• The outlook for growth in each infrastructure service industry is, for the most part, dependent on the overall level of economic growth, although factors such as regulatory reform, technological innovation, and market access will also have a major impact. Joint ventures and mergers and acquisitions are likely to increase as a way for firms to reduce costs and enter foreign markets. Market access will be increasingly important to the banking, logistics, and retail industries, which anticipate faster demand growth in developing countries than in developed countries.
• The USITC hosted its fifth annual services roundtable on November 3, 2011. The discussion, summarized in the report, covered multilateral and regional trade negotiations, ways to harmonize services regulations, and services industries' contributions to global economic activity.

Recent Trends in U.S. Services Trade, 2012 Annual Report (Investigation No. 332-345, USITC publication 4338, July 2012) is available on the USITC's Internet site at http://www.usitc.gov/publications/332/pub4338.pdf.

The U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) today released a public version of its confidential report on the probable economic effect of possible modifications to the U.S. Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), which provides duty-free treatment for specified U.S. imports from certain developing countries.

The investigation, Advice Concerning Possible Modifications to the U.S. Generalized System of Preferences, 2011 Review of Additions and Competitive Need Limitation Waivers, was requested by the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR).

As requested, the USITC, an independent, nonpartisan, factfinding federal agency, submitted a confidential version of the report to the USTR on May 14, 2012. The USTR requested that the USITC issue a public version of the report containing only the unclassified sections, with any business confidential information deleted.

The investigation provides advice on the likely impact on competing U.S. industries on U.S. imports, and on U.S. consumers, of granting GSP eligibility for the following Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) subheadings and countries as noted:

For all GSP-eligible countries:

 

 

• 3923.21.00 (sacks and bags (including cones) for the conveyance or packing of goods, of polymers of ethylene (Petition seeks GSP eligibility for statistical reporting number 3923.21.00.30, which would need to become a new eight-digit HTS subheading.)).

For least-developed beneficiary developing countries (LDBDC):

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• 5201.00.18 (cotton, not carded or combed, having a staple length under 28.575 mm (1-1/8 inches), n/harsh or rough, nesoi),
• 5201.00.22 (cotton, not carded or combed, staple length of 28.575 mm or more but under 34.925 mm, described in gen. note 15),
• 5201.00.24 (cotton,/carded or combed, harsh or rough, staple length 29.36875 mm or more but n/o 34.925 mm, white in color, quota described in ch 52 add US note 6),
• 5201.00.28 (cotton, not carded or combed, harsh or rough, staple length of 29.36875 mm or more but under 34.925 mm & white in color, nesoi),
• 5201.00.34 (cotton, not carded or combed, staple length of 28.575 mm or more but under 34.925 mm, other, quota described in chapter 52 add'l US note 7),
• 5201.00.38 (cotton, not carded or combed, staple length of 28.575 mm or more but under 34.925 mm, nesoi),
• 5202.91.00 (cotton garnetted stock),
• 5202.99.30 (cotton card strips made from cotton waste having staple length under 30.1625 mm & lap, sliver & roving waste, nesoi),
• 5203.00.05 (cotton fibers, carded or combed, of cotton fiber processed but not spun, described in gen. note 15),
• 5203.00.10 (cotton fibers, carded or combed, of cotton fiber processed but not spun, quota described in chapter 52 add'l US note 10),
• 5203.00.30 (cotton fibers, carded or combed, of cotton fiber processed, but not spun, nesoi), and
• 5203.00.50 (cotton carded or combed, excluding fibers of cotton processed but not spun).

Additionally, the investigation provides advice on the likely impact on competing U.S. industries, on U.S. imports, and on U.S. consumers of granting competitive need limitation waivers on the following nine HTS subheadings for the countries as noted. "Competitive need limitations" set the maximum U.S. import level for GSP eligibility and are based on the dollar value or share of total imports of a given product. Once the limit is reached, trade is considered "competitive," benefits are no longer needed, and imports of the article become ineligible for GSP treatment, unless a waiver is granted.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• 1602.50.20 (prepared or preserved beef in airtight containers, other than corned beef, not containing cereals or vegetables) from Argentina,
• 2840.19.00 (disodium tetraborate (refined borax) except anhydrous) from Turkey,
• 2921.19.60 (other acyclic monoamines and their derivatives) from the Philippines,
• 2922.41.00 (lysine and its esters and salts thereof) from Brazil,
• 3307.41.00 ("agarbatti" and other odoriferous preparations which operate by burning, to perfume or deodorize rooms or used during religious rites) from India,
• 4015.19.10 (seamless gloves of vulcanized rubber other than hard rubber, other than surgical or medical gloves) from Thailand,
• 7606.12.30 (aluminum alloy, plates/sheets/strip, w/thick. o/0.2mm, rectangular (inc. sq), not clad) from Indonesia,
• 8415.90.80 (parts for air conditioning machines, nesi) from Thailand, and
• 8708.30.50 (pts. & access. of mtr. vehicles of 8701, nesoi, and 8702-8705, brakes and servo-brakes & pts thereof) from India.

Advice Concerning Possible Modifications to the U.S. Generalized System of Preferences, 2011 Review of Additions and Competitive Need Limitation Waivers (Investigation No. 332-529, USITC publication 4327, May 2012) is available on the USITC's Internet site at http://www.usitc.gov/publications/332/pub4327.pdf.

The report may be requested by sending an email to pubrequest@usitc.gov, by calling 202-205-2000, or by writing the Office of the Secretary, U.S. International Trade Commission, 500 E Street SW, Washington, DC 20436.

USITC general factfinding investigations, such as this one, cover matters related to tariffs or trade. The investigations are generally conducted at the request of USTR, the Senate Committee on Finance, or the House Committee on Ways and Means; the USITC may also self-initiate investigations. The resulting reports convey the Commission's objective findings and independent analyses on the subjects investigated. The Commission makes no recommendations on policy or other matters in its general factfinding reports. Upon completion of each investigation, the USITC submits its findings and analyses to the requester. General factfinding investigation reports are subsequently released to the public, unless they are classified by the requester for national security reasons.

The U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) today released its annual compilation of bi-weekly reports on textile and apparel imports from China.

The report, Textile and Apparel Imports from China: Statistical Reports, Annual Compilation 2011, was requested by the U.S. House of Representatives' Committee on Ways and Means.

As requested, the USITC, an independent, nonpartisan, factfinding federal agency, produced an annual compilation of data that has been posted on a bi-weekly basis on the USITC website. The data in the report are shown on an annual and quarterly basis, by category and by Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) 10-digit subheadings.

By category, annual data are provided from 2005 through 2011, and quarterly data are provided from first quarter 2010 through fourth quarter 2011. By HTS10 subheading, annual data are provided from 2009 through 2011, and quarterly data are provided from first quarter 2010 through fourth quarter 2011.

The report also will be available on the USITC Internet site in Excel and PDF formats at http://www.usitc.gov/research_and_analysis/What_We_Are_Working_On.htm (scroll down to the bottom of the page). A DVD of the report may be requested by email at pubrequest@usitc.gov, by calling 202-205-2000, or by writing the Office of the Secretary, U.S. International Trade Commission, 500 E Street SW, Washington, DC 20436. Requests may also be faxed to 202-205-2104.

USITC general factfinding investigations, such as this one, cover matters related to tariffs or trade and are generally conducted at the request of the U.S. Trade Representative, the House Committee on Ways and Means, or the Senate Committee on Finance. The resulting reports convey the Commission's objective findings and independent analyses on the subjects investigated. The Commission makes no recommendations on policy or other matters in its general factfinding reports. Upon completion of each investigation, the USITC submits its findings and analyses to the requester. General factfinding investigation reports are subsequently released to the public unless they are classified by the requester for national security reasons.

The U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) today released its annual compilation of bi-weekly reports on textile and apparel imports from China.

The report, Textile and Apparel Imports from China: Statistical Reports, Annual Compilation 2012, was requested by the U.S. House of Representatives' Committee on Ways and Means.

As requested, the USITC, an independent, nonpartisan, factfinding federal agency, produced an annual compilation of data that has been posted on a bi-weekly basis on the USITC website. The data in the report are shown on an annual and quarterly basis, by category and by Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) 10-digit subheadings.

By category, annual data are provided from 2006 through 2012, and quarterly data are provided from first quarter 2011 through fourth quarter 2012. By HTS10 subheading, annual data are provided from 2010 through 2012, and quarterly data are provided from first quarter 2011 through fourth quarter 2012.

Textile and Apparel Imports from China: Statistical Reports, Annual Compilation 2012 will be available on the USITC Internet site in Excel and PDF formats at http://www.usitc.gov/research_and_analysis/What_We_Are_Working_On.htm (scroll down to the bottom of the page). A DVD of the report may be requested by email at pubrequest@usitc.gov, by calling 202-205-2000, or by writing the Office of the Secretary, U.S. International Trade Commission, 500 E Street SW, Washington, DC 20436. Requests may also be faxed to 202-205-2104.

USITC general factfinding investigations, such as this one, cover matters related to tariffs or trade and are generally conducted at the request of the U.S. Trade Representative, the House Committee on Ways and Means, or the Senate Committee on Finance. The resulting reports convey the Commission's objective findings and independent analyses on the subjects investigated. The Commission makes no recommendations on policy or other matters in its general factfinding reports. Upon completion of each investigation, the USITC submits its findings and analyses to the requester. General factfinding investigation reports are subsequently released to the public unless they are classified by the requester for national security reasons.

The United States International Trade Commission (USITC) is seeking input on a newly initiated investigation concerning proposed modifications of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) rules of origin.

The investigation, Probable Economic Effect of Certain Modifications to the North American Free Trade Agreement Rules of Origin, was requested by the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) in a letter dated March 11, 2013.

As requested by the USTR, the USITC, an independent, nonpartisan, factfinding federal agency, will provide advice on the probable economic effect of the proposed NAFTA rules of origin modifications on U.S. trade and on domestic producers of the affected articles.

The investigation covers a wide variety of articles, including miscellaneous edible preparations; mineral fuels; products of the chemical or allied industries; plastics; rubber and related articles; cork; glass and glassware; copper, nickel, lead, tin, zinc, and other base metals; nuclear reactors, boilers, machinery, mechanical appliances, and related parts; electrical machinery and related parts; rail locomotives and parts; parts for trailers and semi-trailers; optical, medical, measuring, or checking instruments and apparatus; certain furniture; certain toys and games; lighters; and smoking pipes. Details can be obtained from the attachment to the request letter, which can be found on the USITC Internet site at http://www.usitc.gov/research_and_analysis/What_We_Are_Working_On.htm.

The USITC expects to submit its advice to the USTR by November 12, 2013.

The USITC is seeking input for its new investigation from all interested parties and requests that the information focus on the articles for which the USITC is requested to provide information and advice. The USITC will not hold a public hearing in connection with the investigation; however, the USITC welcomes written submissions for the record. Written submissions should be addressed to the Secretary, U.S. International Trade Commission, 500 E Street SW, Washington, DC 20436 and should be submitted at the earliest practical date but no later than 5:15 p.m. on June 4, 2013.

Further information on the scope of this investigation, the proposed rules of origin modifications, and the procedures for written submissions is available in the USITC's notice of investigation, dated April 28, 2013, which can be downloaded from the USITC Internet site (www.usitc.gov) or by contacting the Secretary at the above address.

USITC general factfinding investigations, such as these, cover matters related to tariffs or trade and are generally conducted at the request of the U.S. Trade Representative, the House Committee on Ways and Means, and the Senate Committee on Finance. The resulting reports convey the Commission's objective findings and independent analyses on the subject investigated. The Commission makes no recommendations on policy or other matters in its general factfinding reports. Upon completion of each investigation, the USITC submits its findings and analyses to the requester. General factfinding investigations reports are subsequently released to the public, unless they are classified by the requester for national security reasons.

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