Tag: trade in services

FASH455 Learning Activity: Exploring US Trade Patterns

(note: please click the section title to access interactive data)

Part 1: U.S. Goods Trade by Industry Sectors and Trading Partners (Source: USITC Trade Shifts 2024 Report)

  • Observe the top U.S. export and import trading partners for goods, noting any changing patterns
  • Observe the top U.S. export and import product sectors, noting any changing patterns
  • Do the trade patterns overall align with the trade theories discussed in class?
  • Should it be a concern that textiles and apparel are NOT among the top US exports of goods?

Part 2: U.S. Trade in Services (Source: USITC Recent Trends in US Services Trade 2024 Report)

  • Observe the sectors covered by trade in services
  • Compare the value of US service exports and imports
  • Observe the trading partners of US services trade
  • Why do politicians often focus more on trade in goods rather than services? Should they?

Part 3 (Optional): Revealed Comparative Advantage Index (Source: UNCTAD)

Note: The revealed comparative advantage (RCA) index measures a country’s relative export performance of a particular product compared to the world average. It helps identify sectors in which a country holds a competitive edge in international trade. RCA =(Country’s exports of product X/Country’s total exports)/(World exports of product X/World total exports).

  • RCA > 1: A value greater than 1 indicates that the country has a revealed comparative advantage in the product, meaning the product has a higher export share in the country’s portfolio compared to the global average. This suggests the country is more competitive in exporting that product relative to the rest of the world.
  • RCA < 1: A value less than 1 means the country has a revealed comparative disadvantage in that product. It indicates that the country is less competitive in exporting that product compared to the global average.

Observe the sectors in which the U.S. enjoyed a revealed comparative advantage (i.e., RCA > 1) in 2023. How does this compare with Bangladesh? What is your explanation for the observed differences?​

Event recording: AI and trade: Will ChatGPT handle your supply chains? (March 2024)

Panel

  • Cecilia Malmström, Nonresident Senior Fellow, Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE)
  • Eva Maydell, Member, European Parliament; Rapporteur for the European Union’s AI Act
  • Joshua P. Meltzer, Senior Fellow, Global Economy and Development Program, Brookings Institution

Key points

  • AI has the potential to optimize supply chains, analyze shipping routes, forecast demand, and enhance risk assessment and fraud detection.
  • AI could potentially offer better market intelligence to help businesses make better-informed decisions and improve forecasting accuracy.
  • AI could reduce barriers to trade in services and technical barriers of trade (TBT) and empower small and medium-sized enterprises (e.g., translation services)
  • While trade in goods has peaked, services trade continues to grow substantially, even during COVID-19, with digital services and professional services being the main drivers. AI could further facilitate the expansion of service trade.
  • AI is already affecting the nature of jobs and the services trade.
  • Policymakers need to focus on creating an environment that supports the development and deployment of AI, particularly by balancing the need to provide regulatory guardrails and the need to encourage business innovation.
  • AI regulation is currently fragmented worldwide. However, there is significant potential for establishing international standards and regulatory coherence, offering a common approach to regulating AI.
  • Building more societal trust among the business community, policymakers, and civil society is necessary to address concerns about AI and related challenges.

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