US service firms urge new approach to WTO talks

"Moving ahead in the WTO (World Trade Organization) will require new and creative ideas," the Coalition of Service Industries said in the paper which comes even before President Barack Obama has fully assembled his trade team.

The group's membership includes energy services giant Halliburton, express delivery rivals Fedex and UPS, computer technology and software leaders IBM and Microsoft and top U.S. banking, financial services and insurance companies.

The paper reflects the sector's frustration that negotiations on its priorities in the seven-year-old Doha round of world trade talks have taken a back seat to agriculture and manufacturing.

"The ... approach has meant that agreements in services hinge on agreements in other sectors that are driven by completely different negotiating dynamics," the group said.

The United States might achieve better results by trying to negotiate sector-specific agreements in areas such as computer and energy services with a smaller group of countries, the group said.

These "plurilateral" pacts could be modeled after the WTO Basic Telecom Agreement and the WTO Agreement on Financial Services, both reached in 1997, the paper said.

"A sector-focused approach may circumvent some of the obstacles that have hampered more comprehensive negotiations," the group said.

The group also recommended the Obama administration explore negotiating a high-standard "services-only" free trade agreement with Japan and the European Union.

US service firms urge new approach to WTO talks