Foreign Trade of the European Union : Dominant Fluctuations

Abstract

The article analyzes the most important changes that have taken place over the past five years in the dynamics and geographical structure of foreign trade relations of the European Union (EU) as the largest entity in the system of modern international commodity trade. It is shown that, despite such rather unfavorable external factors as the increase in general turbulence in world commodity trade, the expansion of the zone of protectionist and sanctions measures, trade conflicts, the EU was able to maintain its dominant position in international commodity exchange. At the same time, the European Union has pushed the main competitors, as the latest statistics show a significant decrease in the share of the North American free trade Association (NAFTA, consisting of the United States, Canada, Mexico) and Japan in international exports. Continuing to pursue a balanced foreign trade policy, the EU used its traditional instruments not only to increase its activity in general and outside the European region, but also to maintain a positive balance of foreign trade. In addition, there are hopes for the resumption of goodneighbourly trade relations between the European Union and the Russian Federation, which have been complicated in recent years by the introduction and extension of sanctions measures by the EU and Russia's response. The author presents new statistical materials, numerous calculated data, for the first time introduced into the domestic scientific circulation.