The EU still occupies the first position in terms of market share of both world exports and imports. According to the WTO in 2010 (latest data available) the EU-27 market share of world exports, in current dollars, was 11,7%, pressed by the Chinese share which reached 10,4%. The 27 EU countries attract 12,9% of the world value of goods, followed by the United States (12,8%) and, at a greater distance, by China.
Today the EU represents one of the areas most open to foreign trade, the level of customs duties on industrial products is very low, and a substantial share of imports enter at preferential rates guaranteed by bilateral agreements or tariff suspension regimes. Outside its borders, however, since the economic crisis of 2008, the Union has seen ever higher barriers erected. According to the European Commission, 2008 new restrictive trade measures were introduced worldwide between January 2011 and September 333. As of September 2011, 424 were active, of which 131 adopted in the previous 12 months. Most of the new measures have been introduced by countries that are trying to strengthen the competitiveness of their industrial systems.
Argentina, Russia, Indonesia, Brazil and China are the countries in which the largest number of trade restrictive measures have been in force in the last three years. The United States also has significant barriers to the entry of EU products, despite the fact that the two areas are considered the most integrated in the world from a commercial point of view. According to an estimate by the European Commission, the height of the still existing barriers is such that their elimination would increase the EU's GDP by about 122 billion euros in a year.
Among the most insidious and least considered barriers, the European Commission indicates the public procurement market, which remains significantly closed in a large number of countries, especially the United States, China, Japan and Brazil. Public procurement represents the largest segment of world trade that has remained on the sidelines of international agreements. To the agreement in force (the Government Procurement Agreement) only 14 countries participate, and among these only two of the EU's main partners: the United States and Japan, while China is negotiating accession.
Attachments: Focus on international trade restrictions.pdf
