Services trade and manufacturing

Foreword

Globalisation and technological progress have blurred the distinction between goods and services companies: services are not only key enablers of the global production networks that many manufacturing companies rely on but they are also increasingly embodied in or supplied alongside manufactured products. As a result, trade in goods and trade in services can no longer be treated separately. Only in this way can we tackle the barriers to the cross-border supply of the integrated solutions that are key for the competitiveness of the European industry.

But how do services intervene concretely in the operations of manufacturing companies and why does the liberalisation of services trade matter to them? This publication seeks to answer this question through examples from the ground. Based on input received from both small and large companies, nine case studies illustrate the role that services and services trade play across different manufacturing sectors. Although the cases are anonymised, all of them are real-life examples of individual companies.

We hope that the cases presented in this brochure will help raise awareness of the close interconnection between trade in goods and trade in services and make a useful contribution to developing a trade policy that is fit for the realities of 21st-century trade.