Foreign trade. International trade

International trade

International trade is the process of buying and selling between buyers, sellers and intermediaries. different countries. Int. Trade includes exports and imports of goods, the ratio between which is called the trade balance. A significant role in accelerating the growth of world trade was also played by the active inclusion in it of new groups of countries that were previously economically backward. Many of them, after gaining independence, embarked on the path of industrialization, which caused an increase in their imports of machinery and equipment from industrialized countries. According to available forecasts, the high rates of world trade will continue in the future: by 2003, the volume of world trade will increase by 50% and exceed 7 trillion. USD

The commodity structure of world trade is changing under the influence of scientific and technological revolution, the deepening of the international division of labor. Currently highest value in world trade has manufacturing products: it accounts for 3/4 of world trade. The share of such types of products as machinery, equipment, vehicles, and chemical products is growing especially fast. The share of food, raw materials and fuel is approximately 1/4.

Trade in science-intensive goods and high-tech products is developing most dynamically, which stimulates the cross-country exchange of services, especially of a scientific, technical, industrial, communicative, financial and credit nature. Trade in services (especially such as information and computing, consulting, leasing, engineering) stimulates world trade in capital goods (the dynamics of the structure of which is presented below

The geographical distribution of world trade is characterized by the predominance of countries with developed market economies, industrialized countries. So, in the mid-90s. they accounted for about 70% of world exports. Developed countries trade the most with each other. The trade of developing countries is mainly oriented towards the markets of industrialized countries. Their share in world trade is about 25% of world trade. Significance in world trade of oil-exporting countries in last years significantly reduced; the role of the so-called new industrial countries, especially Asian ones, is becoming more and more noticeable.

AT modern conditions Active participation countries in world trade is associated with significant advantages: it allows more efficient use of the resources available in the country, to join the world achievements of science and technology, to carry out structural restructuring of its economy in a shorter time, as well as to satisfy the needs of the population more fully and in a more diverse way.

International foreign trade is becoming a real and more and more tangible factor in the reproduction process, in meeting the needs of the population and any economic activity.

Every sixth good or service gets to the consumer through world trade.

At the same time, this is a real factor in the development of the integration type of world economic relations. All this predetermines shifts in the geographical, country structure of international trade: the center of gravity in it moves to mutual relations between economically developed countries and groups of countries (60-70% of world trade). Quantitative and quality characteristics modern international economic relations show the strengthening of the interconnection and interdependence of national economies, the increase in the importance of external economic growth, predetermining the advantages of international integration development associated with the formation and development of the structure of international labor markets. In a broad sense, the market is a combination of economic, social and political relations, emerging in the process of exchange of goods and services. market favors separate category, which develops under the influence of its own laws and affects the entire course of reproduction. Consequently, it is an integral stage of reproduction, developing in close interaction with its other elements - production, distribution and consumption. The market is a system of exchange of different in their consumer properties products of labor as commodities"

At the present stage, international trade plays an increasing role in the economic development of countries, regions, and the entire world community. As a result, on the one hand, foreign trade has become a powerful factor in economic growth, and on the other hand, there has been a noticeable increase in the dependence of countries on international trade.

The term "foreign trade" implies the exchange of a country with other countries, which includes paid export (export) and import (import) of goods and services.

According to modern classification unit externally trading activities according to the principle of commodity specialization is carried out as follows: the exchange of finished products, machines, raw materials, services.

International trade serves as a means that allows the countries participating in the process, by developing their specialization, to increase the productivity of available resources and thus increase the volume of goods and services they produce, as well as the level of well-being of their population. In the second half of this century, international exchange is gaining grandiose proportions. Today, 4/5 of the total volume of international economic relations falls on world trade.

Modern international trade is developing rapidly..

Such a steady growth in international trade was the result of the manifestation of the following factors:

Development of the international division of labor and internationalization of production;

scientific and technological revolution, contributing to the renewal of fixed capital, the creation of new sectors of the economy, accelerating the reconstruction of old ones; active activity of transnational corporations in the world market;

Regulation (liberalization) of international trade through the activities of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), and now the World Trade Organization (WTO);

Liberalization of international trade, the transition of many countries to a regime that includes the abolition of quantitative restrictions on imports and a significant reduction in customs duties - the formation of free economic zones;

Development of trade and economic integration processes - elimination of regional barriers, formation of common markets, free trade zones;

Obtaining the political independence of the former colonial countries, separating from among them "new industrial countries" with an economy model oriented to the foreign market.

The geographical structure of international exchange provides a system for the distribution of commodity flows between individual countries, groups of countries, formed either on a territorial or organizational basis. -

The uneven dynamics of foreign trade was especially clearly seen in the second half of the current century, which affected the balance of power between countries in the world market. The USA gradually lost its dominant position in the system of international exchange. Germany's exports, on the other hand, approached the US, and in some years even surpassed it. In addition to Germany, exports of other Western European countries also grew at a significant pace. In the 90s. Western Europe is turning into main center modern international trade. The total export of this region is almost 4 times higher than the export of the United States. In addition, in the 80s. Japan also made a significant breakthrough in the field of international exchange. In 1983, for the first time, this country was able to reach the first place in the world in the export of cars and trucks, household appliances and other goods. One third of Japanese exports go to the USA. The gradual decline in the dominant role of the USA in international trade was due to the decline in the competitiveness of American production. By the mid 90s. The United States is once again taking the world's leading position in terms of competitiveness, but they are closely followed by Singapore, Hong Kong, and Japan. Against the backdrop of the ongoing changes, the distribution of equity participation of various groups of countries in international exchange has remained almost constant for two decades. Thus, the share of industrialized countries in world exports has fluctuated over the past twenty years within 70-76%, in the developing world - in the range of 20-24%, and in the former socialist countries - did not exceed 6-10%.

Mercantilism and the Free Trade Theory

The root cause of the emergence and development of international economic relations is the difference in the endowment of countries with factors of production (economic resources), which, on the one hand, leads to the international division of labor, and, on the other hand, to the movement of these factors between countries.

Due to the different endowment with production factors, economic entities specialize in the production of a limited set of products. At the same time, they achieve high labor productivity in its manufacture, but at the same time they are forced to exchange this product. The division of labor originates within the country, then covers neighboring countries and the whole world. Factors of production (capital, labor, entrepreneurial ability, knowledge.)

The international division of labor is the specialization of individual countries in the production of goods and services that they exchange with each other. Before the industrial revolution (18-19th century), MRI was based on the endowment of countries with natural resources, then specialization is intensified, based on differences in the endowment of countries with capital, labor, entrepreneurial abilities, and knowledge.)

Movement of factors of production

It is advisable for countries not only to use the abundance of some and the scarcity of other factors to establish exports and imports of certain goods and services, but also to export the abundant and import the missing factors of production. Countries that are poor in capital actively attract it from abroad, the labor force that is surplus for some countries seeks to find employment in other countries, countries with developed science export technology to places where there is no such technology of their own. The international movement of factors of production depends not only on the supply and demand of these factors in different countries, but also on their mobility, various barriers to the movement of factors, and many other factors that hinder this movement. However, the volume international movement factors of production is quite comparable with the volume of international trade.

For any state, the economy of foreign trade is of great importance. Not a single country has yet managed to form its own healthy economic system without participating in world trade. Let us consider further what constitutes foreign (international) trade.

General information

The development of foreign trade began long before the formation of the world economic system. The exchange of goods between countries formed the conditions for the emergence of machine production, which in many cases could expand only on the basis of massive foreign demand and imported raw materials. Foreign trade is both a prerequisite and a consequence of the world division of labor. It is the most important factor in the creation and functioning international economy. Its historical path began from single transactions. Over time, trade relations developed, growing into large-scale long-term international cooperation.

Theoretical aspect

The problems of foreign trade were studied by politicians and scientists at a time when other areas of science were not sufficiently developed. From the 16th to the 18th century, the doctrine of mercantilism existed. At that time, the world division of labor was limited mainly to bilateral and tripartite agreements. According to the mercantilists, the state should sell as much as possible of any product on the foreign market, and purchase as few goods as possible. However, if all countries follow this idea, then foreign trade will be absurd.

Advantage Principle

Smith was the author of this theory. His idea was based on the "profitability" of domestic production and sales of products to other countries in which output is associated with at great expense. The principle of comparative advantage is based on differences in labor time spent on the production of one product.

Comparative cost theory

AT general view foreign trade acts as a means by which states can develop specialization, increase the productivity of their own resources, thus increasing the total production volume. Due to this, sovereign countries, as well as their individual regions and enterprises, can benefit from products that they can produce with relatively high efficiency, as well as from their subsequent exchange for goods that they cannot produce themselves. The most important effect of rising costs is the formation of the boundaries of specialization. In this regard, it is not uncommon for goods produced by a country's own enterprises to directly compete with similar or similar imported products.

Free trade

Through trade based on the principle of comparative costs, the world economic system can achieve a more rational allocation of resources and a high degree of material well-being. The level of technological knowledge of states and the structure of their reserves are different. It follows from this that each country should produce those products, the cost of production of which in it is lower relative to others. If nations do this, the world can take full advantage of geographic specialization. The side benefit of free trade is to stimulate competition and limit monopoly. The high productivity of foreign enterprises is forcing many local companies to switch to lower cost technologies. In addition, it forces firms to innovate and keep up with technical progress, improving the quality of goods, using scientific achievements and developments, and investing in research.

The current state of the institute

Currently, the active participation of countries in international trade is due to a number of factors. First of all, cooperation at the global level makes it possible to use the resources available in states more efficiently. Foreign trade contributes to familiarization with the world achievements of technology and science. Participation in the world trade turnover makes it possible to reduce the time for the structural reorganization of the country's economic system, to meet the needs of the population in a more diverse and complete manner. These opportunities and prospects, in turn, contribute to increased interest in the mechanism through which the regulation of foreign trade is ensured. This problem is of particular importance for countries that have embarked on the path of forming a market system, aimed at participating in global cooperation.

Dynamics of foreign trade

World trade turnover acts as a central link in a complex system of intergovernmental relations. It is a complex of foreign trade states. Its volume is thus determined by summing the export figures of each country. Under the influence of scientific and technological revolution, various structural shifts take place in world trade, cooperation and specialization industrial production. All this strengthens the interconnection of national economies. The volume of world trade is growing faster than production. This is proved by the statistics of foreign trade. Thus, for every 10% increase in world production, 16% of trade is accounted for. Foreign trade thus forms the prerequisites for the development of industry. At the same time, in case of disruptions in trade, production rates slow down.

Foreign Trade Restrictions

Experts put forward many arguments in favor of free trade. However, despite their persuasiveness, in practice many barriers are formed. The main restrictions include:

• duties (including protectionist ones);
• import quotas;
• non-tariff barriers.

These obstacles act as means of implementing protectionism in the sphere of world trade. Let's consider them separately.

duties

These excise taxes on imported products are imposed for profit by the government or to protect domestic producers. Fiscal duties, as a rule, are used for products that are not produced at the enterprises of the country. For example, for the USA such goods are bananas, coffee and so on. These fees are usually low. Their main goal is to provide tax revenues to the federal budget.

Protectionist duties

They are introduced to protect the local producer from foreign competitors. The size of protectionist duties does not allow completely stopping the import of foreign products. However, such taxes place foreign producers at a significant disadvantage in their domestic trading activities.

Import quotas

With their help, the maximum volume of a particular product that can be imported into the domestic market for a certain period of time is established. Often, import quotas are a more effective tool for deterring foreign trade than tariffs. Despite the high tax, certain products can be imported in relatively in large numbers. But at the same time, a low import quota completely prohibits the supply of goods in excess of the established volume.

Non-tariff barriers

They should be understood as a licensing system, the creation of unjustified standards and norms for product quality, its safety, or simply bureaucratic restrictions on customs procedures. For example, Japan and a number European states require importers to obtain permits. By limiting the issuance of a license, imports can be effectively deterred.

Safeguard Analysis

An assessment of supply and demand shows that protectionism leads to higher prices and lower volumes of products subject to duties. In this regard, the sale of foreign goods is significantly reduced, and local producers make a profit due to rising prices and an increase in sales volume. Tariffs thus lead to a less efficient distribution of global and internal resources. In a number of cases, the most convincing arguments in favor of a policy of protectionism are references to the need to expand the defense industries and the underdevelopment of the industrial sector. Most of the rest of the arguments are emotional appeals, half-truths or false statements that emphasize the usually immediate effect of the restrictions, ignoring the long-term consequences.

The State of the Russian Institute at the Beginning of the Century

Russia's foreign trade at the beginning of the century was very active. Thus, in 2003 it remained an intensively emerging sector, stimulating the economic and social activity inside the country. Due to a combination of a number of favorable factors, Russia's foreign trade at the beginning of the century was characterized by high growth rates. At the same time, after a two-year break, export figures in dollar terms began to exceed import ones. Thus, in 2003 the turnover of the Russian Federation was 210.8 billion dollars. This is a quarter more than in the previous year, 2002. In December 2003, the foreign trade turnover reached a 15-year high of $22.3 billion. Export growth was driven by exceptionally favorable oil and other energy prices. In the next year, 2004, the market situation remained the same. In January, exports amounted to 11 billion dollars.

Analysis of the state of trade in 2015

At the beginning of the year it was sharp drop the ruble exchange rate and oil prices, the introduction of new sanctions by foreign countries. Foreign trade of the Russian Federation also suffered from this. The decline in turnover was felt by ordinary consumers. As of January 2015, the volume amounted to 38 billion rubles, having decreased by 34%. Exports decreased by 29%, and imports - by 41%. Such declines are primarily due to the low exchange rate of the national currency. Statistical authorities calculated that the cost of exported products decreased by 6.3%, and imported - by 7.2%. The price of a barrel of oil fell to $47. This figure is comparable to the 2008 crisis indicators. In addition, according to the Ministry of Economic Development, there was a significant decline in investment in construction, fixed capital, and the pace of manufacturing production decreased. This, in turn, had an impact on the volume of output of goods, imports and exports.

Thus, foreign trade indicators for January 2015 turned out to be the lowest for the last 4 years. The volume of purchases of equipment and machinery, goods of the chemical and metallurgical industries has significantly decreased. A decrease in indicators was also noted during 2014. It intensified by autumn in connection with the introduction of sanctions against the Russian Federation. Significantly decreased investment, the provision of loans to domestic companies by foreign financial institutions. In addition, some sanctions affected the import and export of products from a number of countries. Russia's introduction of a food embargo also affected the decline in imports.

1. The concept of foreign economic policy

Foreign economic activity is one of the fastest growing sectors of the domestic economy. It includes foreign investment, currency, customs, migration and foreign trade policies. Foreign investment includes a policy of importing foreign investment and a policy of exporting national investment. The foreign exchange policy consists of discount, revision policy, foreign exchange subsidies and diversification of foreign exchange reserves. The activity of migration policy is to control emigration and migration in our country. Customs policy allows you to track all cargo flows, also Customs establish various methods regulation of world trade.

International trade is the process of buying and selling between buyers, sellers and intermediaries in different countries. International trade includes the export and import of goods, the ratio between which is called the balance of trade.

The meaning of inclusion in international trade is that international trade determines the continuation of the process of selling products for the domestic market. Exporting goods abroad, the country finds additional markets, ensuring the full implementation of the created products.

At the same time, exports can provide even more income than the sale of these products on the domestic market. Exporting products abroad, the country receives payment for this in the currency, which forms the material base for the purchase of any goods in other countries.

Importing goods from abroad makes it possible to obtain products that are not produced at all in the country, or those products whose domestic production costs exceed the costs associated with paying for imports. Import of goods directly affects the physical volume and structure of the country's national income.

Foreign trade to some extent provides an additional effect for the development of any national economy. Therefore, all countries are involved in the international division of labor and commodity exchange, but the degree of inclusion of the national economy in international trade is different.

Theories of foreign trade make it possible to develop on a scientific basis trading strategy, appropriate to the individual conditions and goals of a particular country and having a significant impact on international business; develop an intuitive ability to identify favorable markets.

Theorymercantilism: the wealth of a country was measured by the possession of valuables, usually in the form of gold (exports exceeded imports). Currently, in relation to countries that are clearly trying to have a trade surplus, the term neo-mercantilism is used.

Modern theories international trade originate from the theories of A. Smith and D. Ricardo.

A. Smith substantiated the thesis, according to which the basis for the development of international trade is the difference in the absolute costs of producing goods in different countries: some countries can produce goods more efficiently than others ( theoryabsolute advantage).

Some modern research, based on the theory of absolute advantage, took shape in theorycountry size, which takes into account the difference between countries in terms of their production specialization and helps to explain in what volume and what type of products should be involved in trade.

D. Ricardo belongs theoryrelative advantage. He proved not only the possibility, but also the necessity of mutually beneficial trade, even if there is an absolute advantage of one country in the production of all products: this country will benefit if it abandons the less efficient in favor of the more efficient.

A modern modification of the theory of comparative costs is theoryratio of factors of production. If a country is oversupplied by some factor, such as labor with a relatively lower salary, then the labor goods produced in the given country will be cheaper. This model is often referred to as the Heckscher-Ohlin-Samuelson model.

According to the model classificationwork force not three factors are involved in production, but four: skilled labor, unskilled labor, capital and land.

The leading place among the neoclassical theories of international trade is modelopportunity cost G. Haberler. For each country, he proposes production possibility curves showing the ratio each country can produce two goods using all resources and the best technology.

According to theorieslife cycle (LCT) by Raymond Vernon, Some products go through a four-stage cycle (introduction, growth, maturity, decline), and their production moves internationally depending on the stage of the cycle.

According to theoriessimilarities of countries, a large proportion of the volume of foreign trade today is trade in manufactured goods between industrialized countries, because they have similar market segments.

2. Trade structure

2.1 Export

Although foreign economic sphere The Russian Federation is the most growing sector of the country's economy, but there are a number of problems in this sector. The main exporters and importers in our country are only a number of the most developed subjects of our federation.

The situation in the Russian export sector is characterized by a number of clearly defined trends, both in terms of commodity structure and geographical orientation.

As current trends In the commodity export of the Russian Federation, the following should be highlighted:

1. There is a pronounced fuel and raw material orientation of Russian exports.

2. Due to the unfavorable situation on the world markets for non-ferrous metals, the share of exports of non-ferrous and ferrous metals has slightly decreased. However, ferrous and non-ferrous metal products remain an important Russian export.

3. There was also a reduction in export deliveries of products of the chemical and petrochemical industries, timber, woodworking and pulp and paper industries.

4. Raw material orientation leads to a high dependence of Russian exports on fluctuations in world prices commodity markets.

5. International specialization of Russia in semi-finished products produced in industries that have the greatest negative impact on the state environment(metallurgical, chemical and petrochemical, pulp and paper), significantly worsened the environmental background of foreign trade.

6. The share of machines, equipment, Vehicle.

Since the isolation of the Russian Federation and the beginning of economic reforms, there have been certain changes in the geographical orientation of Russian exports. The main trading partners of Russia are the CIS countries (Belarus-6.5%; Ukraine-6.3%), the EU. Among non-CIS countries, the leading positions are occupied by Germany -9.7%; Italy - 5.7%; Netherlands-5.2%; Switzerland-3.3%; Finland-3.2%. Russia's important trading partners are China - 6.1%; Poland-3.3%; USA-3.7%.

In order to overcome the indicated negative trends in Russian exports, the Government of the Russian Federation adopted a number of legislative acts that contribute to the formation of a rational export structure. The most capacious of them was the "Federal Export Development Program" dated February 8, 1996, which was focused on the manufacturing industries and assumed an increase in the share finished products in Russian exports up to 40% in 2005. Execution of the program in case of an acute shortage in the budget of the necessary financial resources immediately hit a dead end. In the year the program was approved, slightly more than 110 billion rubles were spent from the budget for the purposes envisaged in it. instead of the planned 900 million dollars. In 1997, no budgetary funds were allocated to stimulate and support exports, and the consequences of the financial crisis of 1998 effectively crossed out the possibility of further implementation of the program. But stall federal program The development of exports is explained not only by the refusal of the state to finance it. The main reason is that in the country, as in Soviet time, problems of a general economic nature were not solved, related to the restructuring of the deformed structure of the national economy, its technical re-equipment based on the achievements of scientific and technological progress and increasing the competitiveness of production.

2.2 Import

The situation in the import sector of the Russian Federation is also characterized by a number of features. The following trends were noted in the commodity structure of Russian imports:

1. The main articles are machinery and equipment, foodstuffs, products of the chemical and petrochemical industries, ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy, consumer goods (clothes, shoes, etc.) and so on.

2. Imported machinery and equipment are intended for the textile, clothing, leather, footwear and fur industries. The need to import these goods is due to the lack of production of equipment for most civilian sectors of the economy, which creates a need for irrational imports.

3. Irrational and import under the article "Food": having huge agricultural resources and creating a system state support AIC, Russia could solve the problem of food self-sufficiency.

4. There is a reorientation to import to Russian market cheaper goods of lower quality that did not find demand in industrialized countries.

Describing the geographical structure, it should be noted that industrially developed countries account for more than half of Russian imports, developing countries - 13%; countries of the former CMEA-8.5%; CIS-12%.

In recent years, done big job on the formation of a legal framework for international cooperation between the Russian Federation and other countries: 35 international agreements were signed with 22 countries and the EU (Russia signed the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement with the EU in June 1994).

2.3 RF in the global technology market

The international exchange of scientific and technical knowledge for Russian enterprises and organizations consists, on the one hand, in the possibility of using world scientific and technical experience and raising the technical level on this basis domestic production, and on the other hand, in the possibility of commercial implementation in the world markets of their own scientific and technological achievements, which, in the context of the raw material orientation of Russian exports, is effective way rationalization of the structure foreign economic relations.

The intellectual potential of our country is recognized as one of the highest in the world.

The indisputable advantages of the Russian Federation in the world market of arms and military equipment. First of all, this applies to MiG-29 and MiG-31 fighters, SU-24 and SU-27 fighter-bombers, MI-28 and MI-34 helicopters, AN-124 transport aircraft, and tanks.

Thus, Russia, with its huge scientific and technical potential and highly professional engineering and technical personnel, has every reason to become an equal partner of industrialized countries in the field of international scientific and technical exchange and compete with them on an equal footing.

At the present stage, there are three main areas of scientific and technical cooperation between the Russian Federation and Western countries:

1.Multilateral interstate cooperation. Today our country participates in such international scientific and technical programs as "Copernicus", "Eureka", "Intas" together with the EU Commission; in the program carried out by UNECE - "Energy saving and energy efficiency".

2. Bilateral cooperation is the main form of scientific and technical cooperation. The contractual and legal base of relations with the United States is the most developed, including "Acoustic thermometry of the ocean climate", "Study of the fundamental properties of matter", etc. The largest volume of scientific and technical programs is being implemented with Germany, the USA, and Italy.

3. Almost all scientific and technical contacts in our country are based on direct links: institute-institute, laboratory-laboratory, scientist-scientist, scientist-customer. Because of this, there is a "brain drain". As a rule, the most qualified and gifted scientists go abroad.

In addition, assistance to the development of Russian science is provided by various organizations and funds. Thus, in the early 1990s, two international organizations:

1. The Brussels Association for the Promotion of Cooperation with Scientists of the CIS, established in July 1993, supports fundamental research through a system of guarantors.

2. Technical assistance to the CIS countries (TACIC, established in 1994) is financed from the EU budget. TACIS provides consulting assistance, expert opinions, know-how transfer, etc.

At the same time, the USA, Germany, France, Japan and other industrialized countries organized various funds, stimulating scientific and technical activity in Russia and attracting leading Russian specialists for research.

3 . Foreign trade regulation methods

The state at all times sought to regulate relations in the foreign market, use them for political purposes, matching them with the tasks foreign policy. The objective laws of market development are used in specific socio-political conditions. With the help of the state, an economic policy is developed that directly serves the interests of certain social forces. Her organic integral part is foreign trade policy as a system of state measures to regulate and manage foreign trade activities.

There are two main types of foreign trade policy:

1. Free trading.

2.Protectionism.

Free trade policy means that the state uses such a system of trade and political measures that allow free export and import of goods. But this does not mean the absence of a regulatory role for the state. The state is pursuing a conscious policy to create favorable conditions in the domestic market for imported goods imported without significant restrictions. Supporters of market conservatism defended the freedom of trade, since all laws are embodied in it market economy in its original form, self-regulation of economic relations. Free trade encourages competition and limits monopoly. Freedom to import products from abroad - strong competition own production, forcing manufacturers to reduce production costs, comprehensively use the achievements of scientific and technological progress.

In contrast to free trade, there is another kind of foreign trade policy - protectionism.

It is characterized by the presence of significant import restrictions and is aimed at protecting national production from competition from cheaper foreign goods.

The main reasons for following a protectionist policy are:

1. Preservation of industries necessary for the state that ensure the military-political and economic security of the country.

2. Protection of young industries from the destructive effects of foreign competition.

3. Ensuring stable employment in the national economy.

The choice of the type of foreign economic policy should actively contribute to strengthening the country's position in the system of world economic relations. It is to this task that the mechanism must be subordinated today. state regulation foreign economic relations of Russia. It should be ensured optimal combination freedom of trade and protectionism, taking into account the specifics of the state of its economy and the potential of world economic relations.

The experience of recent years has shown that the interpretation of free trade as accelerated liberalization (this is how it is viewed in the course of Russian reforms) can lead and is already leading to negative consequences: a decrease in domestic industrial potential; destruction of industries and individual enterprises; conservation of disproportions in the structure of the national economic complex; increased financial and technological dependence on industrialized countries; lowering the "quality" of the structure of domestic exports and imports; loss by national producers of a part of the domestic market, etc.

With trade liberalization in the short term, a decrease in employment may occur due to the weakening of incentives for the development of both import-substituting industries and, possibly, industries that are not directly involved in foreign trade, but may depend on liberalization processes. And even a sharp increase in employment in the export sector cannot immediately compensate for its decline in other areas. Export-oriented enterprises do not have time to absorb the workforce released from other sectors, for example, due to the delay in new investments or slow professional reorientation and limited mobility labor resources.

The implementation of the free trade model in its pure form in transitional economies is difficult. The post-socialist countries entered into competition in the world market under unequal conditions compared to the developed countries. The experience of implementing this model in some developing countries has shown that the result of such a strategy is the preservation of the dependent position of national economies, the outflow of investments and qualified personnel.

However, it should be noted that the weakening of protectionism in these countries, expressed in the creation of equal conditions for importers and exporters, in the reduction of foreign trade restrictions and the use of the price mechanism instead of arbitrary bureaucratic decisions, led to an increase in GDP growth, which was the result of the redistribution of resources in more efficient production. Thus, in the countries of the Asia-Pacific region, after the start of economic reforms, liberalization of foreign trade, the annual increase in GDP amounted to 5-6%, and foreign trade - 9-10%.

To regulate foreign trade, the state uses methods that can be divided into tariff (customs tariffs) and non-tariff (quotas, licenses, subsidies, dumping). Protectionism is often carried out to supplement income state budget. Customs duties are easier to collect than taxes, but budget revenues in this case will depend on the elasticity of demand for imports. However, the more elastic the demand, the more government revenues increase when protectionism is weakened. Almost always, the policy of protectionism pursued by one state causes a response from others. Economic contradictions between countries may escalate and lead to negative consequences for each of them, in particular, to the deterioration of the balance of payments of a particular country.

Due to the peculiarities of the economic situation and traditions in the field of state regulation, Russia has to resort to both tariff restrictions and non-tariff quotas and licensing. In fact, this means pursuing a policy of rather strict protectionism, which is reflected in the mechanism of administrative control of foreign trade activities, in methods of stimulating exports and import substitution, in currency regulation and control.

Purposefully applying customs duties and other measures of protectionism, the state can stimulate the development of certain sectors of the economy, weakening competition from foreign goods. However, this protection can backfire. Protecting the manufacturer with the help of excessively high barriers (customs or otherwise), it can deprive him of the incentive to improve production and reduce costs, which ultimately leads to the conservation of technical backwardness. Such a policy will not benefit either the national economy of Russia as a whole, or the overprotected industries themselves.

A good example is the situation at the VAZ. The introduction in the fall of 1993 of practically prohibitive duties on imported cars allowed automakers to raise prices for their far from best quality products to critical levels. At the same time, the plant exported cars at prices below domestic prices, earning significant profits in the face of constant depreciation of the ruble, which, however, was not directed either to the reconstruction of production or to the production of new, competitive models, samples of which were exhibited in car dealerships. The growth of the ruble exchange rate, and later the introduction of the currency "corridor" led to the fact that the imaginary advantages were lost, and VAZ found itself in an extremely difficult economic situation and was forced to temporarily suspend production.

The strengthening of protectionism has a negative effect on the development of industries based on imported technologies, raw materials, semi-finished products, and components. In the long run, a small part of the population benefits from the increase in duties domestic manufacturers, which, becoming a kind of monopoly, begin to dictate prices for products that are far from world-class quality. Protected industries lose their incentive to improve production. All this leads to a narrowing of the market, a deterioration in the quality of goods and an increase in prices.

Modern trade policy has, in addition to defensive, and offensive arsenal - measures to expand national exports, which are carried out with the help of a wide range of means to directly subsidize the export of agricultural goods, stimulate production, research and development, to provide various services to the exporter, the allocation of various kinds of subsidies from the budget and state funds, tax and insurance benefits, the provision of loans and state guarantees on them, etc. one of the most important spheres of state activity in the field of economy. The main attention is paid to measures to support the export of finished products, which will strengthen the country's position in the world market in the long term.

In recent years, Russia has had a positive trade balance, but this cannot serve as evidence of the effectiveness of its trade policy. It was practically the result of low import growth rates, as well as active exports of non-renewable natural resources, primarily energy raw materials. For a long time, Russian exports were limited on the basis of quantitative restrictions (quotas and licenses), which largely happened under pressure from central and local bureaucratic structures that did not want to part with the levers of control over foreign trade that had been established in Soviet times. The last restrictions in the form of quotas and duties on a number of goods were abolished only in 1995.

The absence in Russia of a number of legislative acts necessary for the normal functioning of foreign trade has led to the widespread use of measures of the so-called operational regulation, meaning the desire to solve emerging problems with the help of "fire-fighting", often ill-conceived measures caused by the circumstances of a particular moment. The use of such ill-conceived measures often leads to drastic steps on the part of counterparty states.

4. Prospects for the development of foreign trade of the Russian Federation

Current Russian government shows no interest in the idea of ​​restructuring the country's foreign economic specialization. Finance Minister A. Kudrin, for example, is convinced that over the next 50-100 years natural resources will prevail in domestic exports.

Nevertheless, the long-term forecasts of the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade indicate that by 2015 the share of fuel and energy sectors in domestic exports should decrease to 43%.

An analysis of the state and forecasts for the development of individual sectors of the national economy suggests that it is insignificant to change the nature of Russia's participation in world economic relations. But in the medium term, foreign economic specialization can be diversified based on natural factors (forest, fertile land, etc.). Also, a certain contribution could be made by high technologies in the defense industry, fundamental science, etc. Such diversification could help strengthen the country's position as an exporter and reduce its import dependence.

The qualitative state of foreign trade is due to the fact that the country's economy is at the stage of development of competition. In this regard, it is vital for Russia to expand the sources of competitive advantages, including investment and innovation. Depreciation of fixed assets in industry is 52.7%, and the coefficient of their renewal is 1.7%. With such funds, it is very difficult to produce competitive products.

One of the most important conditions for increasing competitiveness is the outpacing growth of investment in manufacturing industries and the agricultural sector. The modernization of the economy requires a huge amount of capital investments - more than 2 trillion rubles. dollars over the next 20 years. Although in recent years the volume of investment has increased by 10.6% per year, but this is not enough.

It is very important to establish mechanisms for transforming savings into investments and intersectoral capital flows. Purely theoretically, the mobilization of resources for investment and their redistribution can be carried out entirely or in a certain proportion through three institutional structures - the state (with an appropriate level of taxation), large financial and industrial groups and financial markets. Obviously, the state cannot currently dominate the transformation of savings into investments, since it mobilizes only a part of the resources available in the economy for centralized distribution. Large domestic financial-industrial groups are, in principle, capable of large-scale attraction of investors' funds, but they cannot take control of the entire volume of savings, cover all categories of depositors, primarily the population, which treats oligarchic structures with persistent mistrust.

Theoretically, FIGs could become an instrument of intersectoral capital flow, but in practice, this possibility is essentially crossed out by the principles that prevail in the activities of Russian corporations. These principles are to extract the maximum profit from the available tangible assets in the shortest possible time and use a smaller part of this profit to maintain production, and most of it to be transformed into financial assets and dividends.

In addition, it should be taken into account that the capital outflow is hindered by the lower level of profitability in the finishing industries compared to the extractive and primary processing industries. According to official data, the profitability of products and assets in the extractive industries is many times higher than the profitability in the manufacturing industry. With such different levels of return, entrepreneurs in more profitable industries, in which today mainly domestic capital is concentrated, have no incentive to invest in other industries and invest in projects that will turn out to be less profitable.

Financial markets in Russia - credit and stock, unfortunately, are not yet sufficiently developed: the first due to the weakness of the banking system, the second - due to the small number of well-performing companies whose shares could be of interest to capital investors. Therefore, strengthening financial markets- the most important condition for solving the problem of bringing together the volumes of savings and accumulation. In order to intensify the investment process, some believe it is necessary, following the example of other countries, to establish the activities of state development banks. These banks could finance investments in fixed capital at the expense of the vast majority of domestic savings or credit resources concentrated in them. Central Bank. Other economists see an investment resource in the use of money emission tied to the volume of government borrowing in the domestic market. They offer to direct these funds only to high-tech industries, mainly in the military-industrial complex.

It is possible that these measures may initially give some impetus to an increase in investment. Moreover, as practice shows Russian enterprises foreign loans, it is likely that borrowers will seek to avoid the return of loans received and shift debt payments onto the shoulders of the state. Therefore, it would be more rational to encourage the private sector to invest in high-tech industries by providing investment incentives and subsidizing bank lending rates.

An equally important task is to intensify the use of the innovation factor on the basis of the purposeful development of the scientific and technical sphere. Russia has certain opportunities to compete in the world market. These areas include education, culture, fundamental science and design development. At the same time, the export of know-how should take place on a mutually beneficial basis, allowing the joint operation of certain developments carried out in our country. One of the options for this direction should be active introduction to the markets of developing countries, where it is possible to ensure a fairly high level of competitiveness and quality of a number of products and technologies (aerospace, microbiological, educational) with an adequate pricing policy.

Finally, a transition to a fundamentally new export model is possible, when future exports from our country will be financed by partners in the world market within the framework of fairly stable and long-term programs. Investments in R&D, in education based on the potential we have, in the development of environmentally friendly technologies can ensure the future export of results.

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The current economic structure and foreign trade of Russia should be the impetus for providing new methods of development, since the old ones were not effective. Our country will experience a slowdown in economic growth if it continues to lag behind other states in the field of efficient production and scientific and technological progress. This can lead to a deterioration in the well-being of the population, as well as a lack of the country's predisposition to independent development.

It is worth knowing what Russia's foreign trade is, the statistics of which can tell a lot. But first, it is worth familiarizing yourself with the concept of world trade.

International trade is the process of buying and selling goods and services between sellers, buyers, and their intermediaries from different countries. It contains the import and export of goods. The ratio between them is the trade balance, and the sum is the turnover.

Under the influence of scientific and technological revolution and MRI, the commodity structure of world trade is changing. Thanks to this condition world trade is becoming the main factor not only economic, but also political, and community development. The strongest driving component of world economic development is foreign trade.

Sources of Efficiency Improvement

Participation in international trade provides the country with the opportunity to increase the level of satisfaction of social needs. It is worth mentioning the following sources of efficiency improvement:

• Increasing competition in the domestic market.
• Economies achieved by increasing the scale of production.
• Ability to use and obtain resources outside the country.
• Application of the principle of "comparative advantage".

Principles of international trade

International trade carried out in modern conditions has the following principles:

In addition, it is worth noting that developed countries and international institutions are committed to increasing the flow of technical and financial assistance to provide support to those states that are at the stage of development. In doing so, their development needs must be taken into account.

Foreign trade of the Russian Federation. Problems and their causes

Russia has long been a supplier of raw materials and semi-finished products to the world market. The domestic manufacturing industry was far from the leading position in international exports. The main problems of Russia's foreign trade in ensuring competitive areas of the manufacturing industry were the long-term closeness of the USSR from foreign markets.

The high degree of militarization of the economy, combined with a small amount of financial resources, led to the actual division of the economy into two parts. The first was a developed and well-to-do complex of defense industries. The second part was a technically backward sphere, consisting of civilian industries. Quite important is the fact that most of the products of the machine-building complex were sent to developing countries that had political ties with the USSR.

At the present time, commodities also dominate in domestic exports. This condition determines the significant dependence of the state on markets with the absence of a stable market situation. At the same time, regular price fluctuations hinder the provision of a stable flow of foreign currency into the country. In this situation, the regulation of Russia's foreign trade should be carried out at a high level.

Also negative can be called the fact that a significant part of domestic exports are products of environmentally friendly hazardous industries. These include the pulp and paper, chemical and metallurgical industries.

Commodity structure of exports and imports of the Russian Federation

In the commodity structure of domestic exports, the raw material orientation was preserved, in which energy carriers predominate. This is evidenced by the dynamics of Russia's foreign trade. Half of the country's total exports consist of fuel and energy products. Then come metals, chemical goods, precious stones and articles made from them.

The level of competitiveness of the state is evidenced by foreign trade in machinery and equipment. In Russia, it occupies only a tenth of total exports.

The unfavorable commodity structure of Russia's foreign trade can be explained by the non-competitiveness of the predominant number of types of finished products. This figure in relation to imports is quite stable.

Geographic structure

This structure of Russia's foreign trade underwent serious changes back in the 1990s. Initially, its trading partners were the former socialist countries, which accounted for about 67% of the commodity turnover. Mutual trade between them decreased to 10% by the end of the last century due to changes in the terms of cooperation.

In the Russian Federation, the share of exports of countries with developed industry has sharply increased. At the moment, a significant part of raw materials and products of its direct processing is supplied to these markets. Access to finished products for developed countries is difficult. This is explained by the fact that in relation to domestic exporters various methods are used to prevent them from realizing competitive advantages.

Russia's foreign trade with developing states is highly unstable. The Russian Federation has actively developed foreign trade relations with the CIS countries and is interested in maintaining them. In addition, important communications of Russia for foreign trade run through the territories of most of them. In particular, these are highways and railways, as well as oil and gas pipelines.

Modern trends in the development of exports and imports of Russia

It should be noted that the Russian Federation has the following export development trends:

These trends will improve the degree of development that distinguishes Russia's foreign trade and allow it to take a higher position in the international market.

Russian export development strategy

For the development of the country's trade, it is necessary to increase the share of goods with high level processing, and in the first place - finished products. At the same time, the diversification of the geographical distribution of international trade should be strengthened. Russia should return to the markets of developed countries and increase the share of CIS member countries. Further development of import substitution is required. Consequently, Russia's foreign trade will gradually develop.

An alternative for the country's raw material exports could be the concentration of its potential not in the machine-building sector, but in industries with higher competitiveness, for example, nuclear power, high technologies and programming.

Definition

Benefits of participating in international trade

Modern theories international trade

Mercantilism

Adam Smith's Absolute Advantage Theory

David Ricardo's theory of comparative advantage

Heckscher-Ohlin theory

Leontief's paradox

Product life cycle

Michael Porter's theory

Rybchinsky's theorem

Theory of Samuelson and Stolper

territory;

Acquired Benefits:

production technology, that is, the ability to produce a variety of products.

David Ricardo's theory of comparative advantage

Specialization in the production of a product that has the maximum comparative advantage is also beneficial in the absence of absolute advantages. A country should specialize in exporting the goods in which it has the greatest absolute advantage (if it has an absolute advantage in both goods) or the least absolute disadvantage (if it has no absolute advantage in any of the goods). each of these countries and leads to an increase in total production, trade is motivated even if one country has absolute advantage in the production of all goods before another country. An example in this case is the exchange of English cloth for Portuguese wine, which brings income to both countries, even if the absolute costs of production of both cloth and wine in Portugal are lower than in England.

Heckscher-Ohlin theory

According to this theory, a country exports a product for the production of which a relatively surplus production factor is intensively used, and imports goods for the production of which it experiences a relative shortage of production factors. The necessary conditions existence:

countries participating in international exchange have a tendency to export those goods and services for the manufacture of which predominantly the factors of production that are available in excess are used, and, conversely, a tendency to import those products for which there are any factors;

the development of international trade leads to the equalization of "factorial" prices, that is, the income received by the owner of this factor;

it is possible, given sufficient international mobility of factors of production, to replace the export of goods by the movement of the factors themselves between countries.

Foreign trade is

Leontief's paradox

The essence of the paradox was that the share of capital-intensive goods in exports could grow, while labor-intensive goods could decrease. In fact, when analyzing trade balance USA, the share of labor-intensive goods did not decrease. The resolution of the Leontief paradox was that the labor intensity of goods imported by the United States is quite large, but price labor in cost product is significantly lower than in export supplies USA. The capital intensity of labor in USA significant, together with high labor efficiency, this leads to a significant impact on the price of labor in export supplies. The share of labor-intensive supplies in US exports is growing, confirming Leontief's paradox. This is due to the growth in the share of services, labor costs and the structure of the American economy. This leads to an increase in the labor intensity of the entire American economy, not excluding exports.

Product life cycle

Some types of products go through a cycle consisting of five stages:

product development. Organization finds and implements new idea product. At this time, the sales volume is zero, costs are growing.

Export

Export (English export) in the economy is the export abroad of goods sold to a foreign buyer or intended for sale in a foreign market.

Export also includes the export of goods for processing in another country, the transportation of goods in transit through another country, the export of goods brought from another country for sale in a third country (re-export), etc. Indirect export - export with the participation of intermediaries.

Sources

wikipedia.org - Wikipedia - the free encyclopedia

glossary.ru - Glossary.ru

Encyclopedia of the investor. 2013 .

See what "Foreign Trade" is in other dictionaries:

International trade- trade between countries, consisting of export (export) and import (import) of goods and services. Foreign trade is carried out mainly through commercial transactions formalized foreign trade contracts. In English: Foreign trade See also: ... ... Financial vocabulary