International trade in services in the United States

U.S. international trade in services recorded growth in both exports and imports, according to data from the International Trade Commission (USITC).

On the one hand, total services exports from the United States increased 15.9% in 2022 compared to 2021.

During this period, exports in most sectors grew significantly.

The most notable increase was in passenger travel and fares, whose exports rose 98.3 percent.

Other sectors with large increases in exports during this period were air transportation (excluding passenger fares) (+25.1 percent) and research and development services (+19.4 percent).

In contrast, financial and insurance services experienced small declines in exports between 2021 and 2022 (-0.8 and -4.0 percent, respectively)

International trade

Earlier, despite considerable declines, the United States maintained the surplus in cross-border trade in services, although its value fell to 230 billion in 2021, the lowest level since 2012.

In particular, travel and transportation were negatively affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The European Union and the United Kingdom were the United States’ main partners in services trade during the period.

The financial services sector contributes substantially to the U.S. economy.

In 2021 (Q3), its share of GDP was 8.5%, up from 7.5% in 2017.

To counteract the effects of Covid-19-related confinements, several assistance programs were authorized for passenger air carriers, cargo air carriers, aviation contractors, and airports.

The recently enacted Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act provides for airport infrastructure investments of up to $20 billion over five years.

Also, preliminary data on U.S. cross-border services imports in 2022 show significant increases in sectoral imports compared to 2021.

Passenger travel and fares recorded the largest growth in imports (119.5 percent), followed by shipping (32.3 percent) and financial services (10.4 percent).

Similarly, imports increased in all other service sectors except insurance services, which decreased slightly (-0.5 percent).