A Pivot to a Services Trade Agenda Can Help Economic Growth

The coronavirus pandemic has restricted people's physical movement but not the exchange of information, knowledge, and other digitally delivered services. The post-coronavirus future will likely continue to include an ever-expanding range of associated business, professional, and technical services that firms and workers deliver digitally. Policymakers need to expand their focus beyond goods trade to include a trade agenda that embraces US services in the world economy.Growth in trade in services and digital connections has outpaced merchandise trade for the past 25 years, as advances in information communications technology and digitalization have enabled more services to be delivered remotely over long distances. The pandemic is likely to reinforce this trend. Better measurement tools and rules for services trade can assist this key driver of domestic and global economic growth in a world that increasingly relies on digital connections