The "Notification of U.S. preferential treatment to services and services suppliers of least-developed countries" is here. The document starts with this explanation:
In accordance with the decision by Ministers at the WTO’s Eighth Ministerial Conference on Preferential Treatment to Services and Service Suppliers of Least-Developed Countries (WT/L/847) (“Waiver”), and the decision by Ministers at the WTO’s Ninth Ministerial Conference on Operationalization of the Waiver Concerning Preferential Treatment to Services and Services Suppliers of Least-Developed Countries (WT/L/918), the Permanent Mission of the United States to the World Trade Organization in Geneva has the honor to notify to the World Trade Organization Council for Trade in Services of the preferential treatment that the United States is providing to services and services suppliers of least-developed countries (“LDCs”).
With respect to application of the measures described in Article XVI of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), the United States is according to LDCs treatment more favorable than the treatment set out in the U.S. Schedule of Specific Commitments (GATS/SC/90, incl. suppls.) and consistent with the treatment accorded to free trade agreement partners of the United States, in the sectors and subsectors indicated in this notification. The preferential treatment is accorded with respect to several sectors and modes of supply identified as being of particular export interest to LDCs in The Collective Request Pursuant to the Bali Decision on the Operationalization of the LDC Services Waiver Concerning Preferential Treatment to Services and Service Suppliers of Least Developed Countries (S/C/W/356). The United States intends to maintain this preference for the period of the Waiver.
What I wonder is, will these preferences have any real impact? Let me take an example. For the sector "Cable services provided over cable systems," the document sets out the "Conditions of Market Access for Services and Services Suppliers of LDCs" as follows:
The supply of services, without limitations, from the territory of an LDC into the territory of the United States or in the territory of an LDC to a service consumer of the United States.
The supply of services, without limitations, by a service supplier of an LDC through commercial presence in the United States, or through the presence of natural persons of the LDC who are in the United States lawfully for the purpose of supplying such services.
What are the chances we will see cable services provided by LDC-based companies in the U.S.? A more promising sector might be this one:
Other business services: Other, including: - translation and interpretation services, - mailing list compilation and mailing services, - specialty design services
If there are people out there who are measuring these things, it would be interesting to see the extent to which services preferences for LDCs are utilized.
