International trade is the oldest and most important form of international economic relations, exerting a decisive influence on the development of the world economy as a whole.
International trade is the sphere of commodity-money relations, which is a set of foreign trade of all countries of the world.
Foreign trade is the exchange of a country with other countries, including paid exports and imports of goods and services. The term “foreign trade” applies only to a single country.
To characterize both international trade and foreign trade, indicators of total turnover, commodity and geographical structure are used.
Foreign trade turnover is the sum of the value of exports and imports of a particular country.
The value of foreign trade is calculated for a certain period of time in current prices of the corresponding years using current exchange rates.
The physical volume of foreign trade is calculated in constant prices and makes it possible to make the necessary comparisons and determine its real dynamics.
World trade is calculated by summing up only the export volumes of all states, traditionally expressed in US dollars. This method of calculation is caused by the fact that the export of goods of all countries of the world is simultaneously the import of these countries (not counting the cost of transport and cargo insurance), so adding up the figures of world exports and imports would lead to a double count.
The value of world imports is always higher than the value of exports by the amount of freight and insurance. Accounting of countries between which foreign trade turnover is carried out is carried out according to the “production – consumption” method. In accordance with this method, imports are reflected in the country of production, and exports – in the country of consumption of the goods.
The commodity structure of world trade is the ratio of commodity groups in world exports.
Geographical structure – the distribution of trade flows between individual countries and their groups, allocated either on a territorial or organizational basis. Organizational geographical structure – data on international trade between countries belonging to separate integration and other trade and political groupings, or allocated to a certain group according to certain criteria.
The main forms of international trade are the export and import of goods.
Indicators reflecting a country’s participation in international trade are the export and import quota. The export quota is calculated as the ratio of exports of goods and services to GDP and shows what proportion of all manufactured products in the country are sold on the world market. The import quota is calculated as the ratio of imports to the volume of domestic consumption of a country, which includes the totality of national production and import stocks, and shows what is the share of imported goods and services in domestic consumption.
International trade consists of two reciprocal flows of goods – exports and imports and is characterized by trade balances and trade turnover.
Trade balance – the difference in the value of exports and imports.
Trade turnover is the sum of the value of exports and imports.
The subjects of international trade are all States of the world, transnational corporations and regional integration groupings. The objects of international trade are the products of human labor – goods and services.
Given that the objects of international trade are goods and services, there are two forms of it: international trade in goods and international trade in services. International trade in goods is a form of communication between commodity producers of different countries, arising on the basis of the international division of labor and expressing their mutual economic dependence.
In the international practice of statistical accounting of exports and imports, the date of registration is the moment of passage of goods across the customs border of the country. The value of exports and imports is calculated in most countries at contract prices reduced to a single basis, namely: export – at FOB prices, import – at CIF prices.
Statistical evaluation of goods on fob (free on board) terms includes, in addition to the cost of the goods themselves, all the costs associated with its delivery to the ship, including loading on board. In land transportation, the price “fob” means the price of the goods on the terms of the “free-land border of the exporting country”, which, in addition to the cost of the goods themselves, also includes the cost of its delivery to the border of the exporting country.
The price of CIF (cif – cost, insurance, freight – cost, insurance, freight) includes the cost of goods on the terms of FOB – the port of departure plus the costs of insuring the goods in transit and its transportation (sea freight) to the port of destination. In land transportation, the concept of “CIF price” corresponds to the price of “franco-border of the importing country”.
The value of world imports is always higher than the value of exports by the amount of freight and insurance value, because world exports are estimated on the basis of the FOB price, and imports on the basis of the CIF price.
Accounting of counterparty countries, that is, countries between which foreign trade turnover is carried out, is carried out according to the “production – consumption” method. In accordance with this method, imports are reflected in the country of production (origin of the goods), and exports – in the country of consumption of the goods.
The UN Statistical Commission recommends that exports and imports take into account all goods and material values that, as a result of their export or import, reduce or increase the material resources of the country. Thus, exports and imports also include goods whose import and export was carried out on a non-commercial basis, that is, in the form of gratuitous assistance or in the form of gifts.
The volume of world trade does not include the cost of all types of services, including material ones (construction and installation works, design, survey work, patents, licenses, printing of books, advertising materials).
According to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in
In 2003, the growth of commodity exports was 4.5%, and in monetary terms the volume of trade increased by 16% and amounted to
7.3 trillion. Usd. (volume of commercial services provided –
1.8 trillion. (Millions of Dollars). The activity of exchanging goods and services has been growing for the second year in a row after a sharp decline recorded in 2001 , however, two-thirds of the value growth in trade, according to WTO estimates, is associated with changes in exchange rates. In addition, the growth in the activity of exporters was ensured by the development of the economies of the United States and Asian countries, as well as high prices for natural resources. The growth of exports from Western Europe was almost entirely due to exchange rate fluctuations and price increases, WTO experts write, and the increase in exports from Asian countries, on the contrary, was caused by an increase in supply volumes.
The leader of trade in terms of exports in 2003 is Germany (748.4 billion dollars), the United States is in second place
($724 billion). German exporters were helped by the strengthening of the euro, which increased the accounting value of their goods. Third place – Japan ($ 471.9 billion), and China
($438.4 billion) beat France ($384.7 billion) to finish fourth in the rankings.
The largest importer is the United States (1.305 trillion dollars), the second place is in Germany (601.7 billion dollars), in third place is China (412.8 billion dollars).
Further growth in trade volumes, according to the WTO forecast, will be associated with the development of the economies of Southeast Asia and countries with economies in transition. In 2004, world GDP will increase by 3.7% against 2.5% in 2003, and trade will grow by 7.5%.
The development of international trade has received a powerful impetus under the influence of the processes of globalization of the world economy, liberalization in the trade and political sphere, expansion of preferential trade within the framework of regional economic associations, deepening of international production, scientific and technical cooperation, rapid growth in sales of progressive high-tech products, primarily office and telecommunications equipment, incorporating the latest achievements of NTP.