The cost of trade in services is twice that of trade in goods, and 40% of those costs come from opaque regulations, divergent standards, and cumbersome procedures. This disparity highlights a key challenge in international services trade – navigating regulatory complexities that far exceed those faced in goods trade.
Barriers to trade in services are both widespread and substantial, and protectionist measures are on the rise for many global services. The greater price differences for services across countries, compared to goods, underscore that the biggest opportunities for trade growth lie in the globalization of services. Yet, global efforts to remove barriers to trade in services have been slow and fragmented.
