ATLANTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – Georgia’s Chamber of Commerce released a report on Thursday that details how tariffs and trade negotiations are likely to impact Georgia’s service industries.

Georgia Chamber CEO Chris Clark said there are concerns of retaliatory measures that could start a ripple effect, which could stifle company growth and lead to layoffs.

“I’ve heard from companies that are literally losing $4 to $6 million a week. If we have those services somehow prohibited, monitored or regulated in a different way, it could cost Georgia jobs,” said Clark.

The report details that in 2022, Georgia carried a $27 billion services trade surplus as businesses, professional and technical services, financial services and transportation services.

“While that’s not part of the administration’s focus on the trade war, there are barriers that are going up and there are reciprocal trade tariffs that are going in, and China has already announced they’re going to go after the service sector in the US and Georgia is going to be impacted,” said Clark.

Georgia’s leading export partners include China at $1.2 billion, Canada at $2.1 billion and Mexico at $1.1 billion.

Clark said Georgia has the ability to open up more markets through negotiations, but said they’re hoping for a swift end to tariff talks.

“We’ve heard that China is now looking at certain companies here in America that are doing business in China and asking for their intellectual property, looking at their licensing as well, how they operate, maybe even the potential to take their products that are being made over there and send them somewhere else. You’ve got to really be careful, you need a trade attorney, you need to be plugged into your local chamber,” said Clark.

>> WATCH CLARK’S FULL ADDRESS ON TARIFFS:

Georgia’s service economy relies on international companies for business growth.

Emory University Professor Ray Hill said tariffs are likely going to cause a major shift in the country’s top industries.

“We export about $300 billion more in services than we take in. So one of those services is intellectual property. People pay us about $100 billion more for the intellectual property we’ve developed than we pay foreigners for their intellectual property. Services are the high-paying jobs and the sort of intellectually driven part of what we do,” said Hill.

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