United States of America - Services

While there has been a trade deficit in manufactured items between the United States and the rest of the world, the nation has built a trade surplus in services. In 1998, services accounted for 28 percent of total U.S. exports, but only 16.5 percent of imports. Since 1995, services have grown by an average of 6 percent per year. Leading segments of the service sector include telecommunications, financial services, and IT. The main export markets for American services are the European Union, which spent $85 billion on American services in 1999, Japan at $30 billion, and Canada at $21 billion. Among developing nations, Mexico was the number-one source for the export of U.S. services, and in 1999, it spent $13 billion.