By Brakeyshia Samms, Office of Public and Media Affairs
Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Michael Punke spoke this week at a “Trade in Services Agreement (TISA)” workshop organized by the International Trade Committee of the European Parliament. An audience of 120 people including Commission officials, Parliament staffers, representatives of Member States and foreign missions in Brussels, and a variety of private sector and civil society representatives came to listen to Ambassador Punke and other panelists.
Ambassador Punke touched on the crucial updates that are needed in the proposed TISA, and explained how the new agreement would enhance and supplement the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) that has governed services trade for the last 20 years. The new services agreement, Ambassador Punke said, would serve as a bridge from the GATS to the future of services trade.
U.S. companies are global leaders in service industries like telecommunications, financial services, environmental services, retail, and express delivery; in fact, three out of four American jobs are already in the services sector, and every additional $1 billion in U.S. services exports supports another estimated 4,200 U.S. jobs. The proposed agreement will help the United States to tap into the full trade potential that the dynamic and innovative U.S. service sector can achieve.
To learn more information about the TISA negotiations or any other services agreements, please visit this link.
