The U.S. service sector is the world's largest, most innovative and most productive. Employment in the U.S. is projected to increase by almost 25 million from 1990 to 2005, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that almost all of these new jobs will be in the service sector. Within services, the two largest growth industries are health care and business services. Services are a large and growing segment of U.S. foreign trade and an increasingly positive factor in the U.S. balance of payments. On a country basis, the U.S. maintains a surplus in private services trade with all its major trading partners.
Services assist the export of U.S. products and commodities.
In fact virtually nothing moves in international trade without being contracted for, financed, insured, transported or sold at wholesale and retail levels. For example, Rubbermaid is a respected and successful name in many parts of the world, competing with products that are simple, inexpensive, and easy to duplicate. Banks, insurance companies, airlines, shipping companies, and telecommunication services are essential to the movement of all U.S. exports. The GATT Uruguay Round is the first attempt to cover services in a multilateral forum.