FOREIGN TRADE RELATIONS OF THE EUROPEAN UNION AND THE EU PARTNERSHIP WITH JAPAN, THE REPUBLIC OF KOREA

The article analyzes current trends in the dynamics and geographical structure of the European Union's foreign trade during 2013–2017. During this period, as a result of the next – the fifth – expansion of the group, the number of its members reached the maximum while the indicator was 28 participants. The changes that have taken place at this stage in the foreign trade activity of the bloc were examined against the backdrop of shifts in the world economy, as well as the increasing use of various kinds of restriction measures, including anti-Russian sanctions, in the practice of international trade. At the same time, it is taken into account that the aggregate volumes of export-import relations of the European Union, the largest collective counterparty in the modern global сommodity turnover, should be considered within their division for trade contacts within the EU (the EU Intra-trade) and beyond it (the EU Extra-trade) the ratio between which demonstrates mobility in the general dynamics of their evolution. The undertaken research is focused on the foreign trade relations of the EU with third countries (the EU Extra-trade). Of considerable interest are the contacts of the European Union in the Far Eastern region with the world's largest exporters of goods by Japan, the Republic of Korea. It is shown that, despite the existing external challenges, thanks to flexible foreign trade policy (the «turtle effect»), the European Union manages to maintain its leading position in the global commodity exchange.

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