The concept of international trade briefly. Fundamentals of the Standard Model. Features of the world market of machine-technical products

International trade is nothing but the process of buying and selling, which is carried out between sellers, buyers, intermediaries from different countries. Structure international trade includes goods, and the ratio between them is called the balance of trade.

The commodity structure of international trade is changing and subject to the impact of scientific and technological revolution, as well as the deepening division of labor. IN this moment of the greatest importance in international trade are products that belong to Equipment, machinery, chemical products, vehicles- these are the types of products, the share of which is growing especially rapidly. And trade in high-tech products and science-intensive goods is developing very dynamically. This stimulates the exchange of services between countries, especially those that are of a communicative, industrial, financial, credit, scientific and technical nature. goods for industrial purposes is stimulated by trade in services (leasing, consulting, information and computing, engineering).

The structure of international trade indicates the ratio in the total volume of any parts, depending on the chosen feature. General structure international trade shows the ratio of imports and exports in shares or percentages. IN monetary terms the share of exports is always less than the share of imports. And in the physical volume, this ratio is equal to one. The commodity structure of international trade shows what is the share of certain goods in its total volume.

Some goods do not participate in world trade at all. Therefore, they are all divided into non-tradable and tradable. The first group is those that, for various reasons (strategic importance for the country, lack of competitiveness) do not move between different countries. And the first group - goods that can move freely.

When the structure of international trade is characterized by specialists, two groups of goods are distinguished: and raw materials.

The geographical structure of international trade is characterized by the distribution of trade in the directions of various commodity flows. Currently, there is such a situation that countries that are industrially developed and have a more developed economy trade the most with each other. focused on the markets of those countries that are industrialized. 25 percent of world trade - such is their share in world trade. IN Lately the countries called new industrial (Asian) countries are playing an increasing role, while the oil-exporting countries are losing their importance in world trade.

International trade takes many forms. By the number of items, it can be single- and multi-subject. There is also a division by the number of parties into bilateral and multilateral. By territorial coverage, world trade is divided into local, regional, interregional and global. There is also a division according to the structure of relations into intra-company, intra-industry, inter-industry, horizontal, vertical and mixed.

At present, international trade plays an important role in economic development many countries, as well as regions and the world community. is now considered the most powerful factor in the growth of the economy. And now many countries are heavily dependent on international trade. Such a dynamic growth of international trade is influenced by such factors as the internationalization of production, the development of the division of labor between countries, the activities and existence of transnational corporations, TNCs, and scientific and technological revolutions.

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Economics for Non-Economists: International Trade (Part 2) #8

world trade

27 International trade

World economy. Lecture 4. International trade

Lecture 7 International trade, its nature, causes and scope

Subtitles

Benefits of participating in international trade

the intensification of the reproduction process in national economies is a consequence of increased specialization, creating opportunities for the emergence and development of mass production, increasing the degree of equipment workload, and increasing the efficiency of introducing new technologies;
an increase in export deliveries entails an increase in employment;
international competition necessitates the improvement of enterprises;
export earnings serve as a source of capital accumulation aimed at industrial development.

Classical theories of international trade

Mercantilism

Mercantilism - a system of views of economists -XVII centuries, focused on the active intervention of the state in economic activity. Representatives of the direction: Thomas Maine, Antoine de Montchretien, William Stafford. The term was proposed by Adam Smith, who criticized the works of the mercantilists. Basic provisions:

the need to maintain an active trade balance of the state (excess of exports over imports);
recognition of the benefits of attracting gold and other precious metals to the country in order to increase its well-being;
money is an incentive for trade, since it is believed that an increase in the mass of money increases the volume of the mass of commodities;
welcome protectionism, aimed at importing raw materials and semi-finished products and exporting finished products;
restriction on the export of luxury goods, as it leads to the leakage of gold from the state.

Adam Smith's Absolute Advantage Theory

The real wealth of a country consists of the goods and services available to its citizens. If any country can produce this or that product more and cheaper than other countries, then it has an absolute advantage. Some countries may produce goods more efficiently than others. The country's resources flow into profitable industries, as the country cannot compete in unprofitable industries. This leads to an increase in the productivity of the country, as well as the skills work force; long periods of production of homogeneous products provide incentives for the production of more effective methods work. Natural Benefits:

climate;
territory;
resources.

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 largest absolute advantage (if it has an absolute advantage in both goods) or the smallest absolute disadvantage (if it has no absolute advantage none of the products). Specialization in certain types of goods is beneficial for each of these countries and leads to an increase in total production, trade is motivated even if one country has an absolute advantage in the production of all goods over another country. An example in this case is the exchange of English cloth for Portuguese wine, which benefits both countries...

Heckscher-Ohlin theory

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

countries participating in international exchange have a tendency to export those goods and services for the manufacture of which they use mainly production factors that are in excess, and, conversely, a tendency to import those products for which there is a shortage of any factors;
the development of international trade leads to the equalization of "factor" 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.

Leontief's paradox

The essence of the paradox is that the share of capital-intensive goods in exports will grow, while the share of labor-intensive goods will decrease.

Product life cycle

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

product development. The company finds and implements new idea goods. During this time, sales are zero and costs rise.
bringing the product to market. No profit due to high marketing costs, slow growth in sales
fast market conquest, profit increase
maturity. Sales growth is slowing down, as the bulk of consumers have already been attracted. The level of profit remains unchanged or decreases due to an increase in the cost of marketing activities to protect the product from competition
decline. Decreased sales and reduced profits.

Michael Porter's theory

This theory introduces the concept of a country's competitiveness. It is national competitiveness, from Porter's point of view, that determines success or failure in specific industries and the place that a country occupies in the world economy. National competitiveness is determined by the ability of the industry. At the core of the explanation competitive advantage The role of the home country lies in stimulating renewal and improvement (that is, in stimulating the production of innovations). Government measures to maintain competitiveness:

government impact on factor conditions;
government influence on demand conditions;
government impact on related and supporting industries;
government influence on the strategy, structure and rivalry of firms.

Rybchinsky's theorem

The theorem consists in the assertion that if the value of one of the two factors of production increases, then in order to maintain constant prices for goods and factors, it is necessary to increase the production of those products that intensively use this increased factor, and reduce the production of the rest of the products that intensively use the fixed factor. In order for the prices of commodities to remain constant, the prices of the factors of production must be constant. The prices of factors of production can only remain constant if the ratio of the factors used in the two industries remains constant. In the case of an increase in one factor, this can take place only with an increase in production in the industry in which this factor is intensively used, and a reduction in production in another industry, which will lead to the release of fixed factor, which will become available for use along with a growing factor in an expanding industry.

Stolper-Samuelson theorem

In 1941, American economists P. Samuelson and W. Stolper improved the Heckscher-Ohlin model of foreign trade, imagining that in the case of homogeneity of factors of production, identity of technology, perfect competition and complete mobility of goods, international exchange equalizes the price of factors of production between countries. The authors base their concept on the Ricardian model with the additions of Heckscher and Ohlin and consider trade not just as a mutually beneficial exchange, but also as a means to reduce the gap in the level of development between countries.

Dynamics of development of international trade

About 60% of world GDP is accounted for by services, the vast majority of which is not subject to international trade (education, medical care, public administration, wholesale and retail). These are the so-called non-tradable, i.e., services not participating in international trade. Share of merchandise exports in world GDP, from which services not involved in world trade are deducted, is significantly more than in the total volume of world GDP (according to some estimates, almost half of).
(World economy in the age of globalization / O. T. Bogomolov. M., 2007. P. 15.)

WITH early XIX V. before 1914 the volume of world trade had grown almost a hundredfold.

Since the second half of the 20th century, when international exchange, according to M. Pebro’s definition, acquires an “explosive character”, world trade has been developing rapidly. The WTO states that in recent decades the volume of world trade has been growing much faster than the entire world production. So, for 1950-2000. world trade grew 20 times, and production - 6 times. In 1999, total exports amounted to 26.4% of world production, compared with 8% in 1950. In the period 1950-1998. world exports grew 16 times. According to Western experts, the period between 1950 and 1970 can be characterized as a "golden age" in the development of international trade. In the 1970s, world exports dropped to 5%, falling further in the 1980s. In the late 80s, he showed a noticeable revival. Since the second half of the 20th century, the uneven dynamics of foreign trade has manifested itself. In the 90s Western Europe- the main center of international trade. Its exports were almost 4 times higher than those of the United States. By the end of the 80s, Japan began to emerge as a leader in terms of competitiveness. In the same period, it was joined by the "new industrial countries" of Asia - Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan. However, by the mid-1990s, the United States was once again taking a leading position in the world in terms of competitiveness. Before the crisis of 2007-2008, on average, world trade grew by 6% annually during the 1990-2000s. The export of goods and services in the world in 2007, according to the WTO, amounted to 16 trillion US dollars. The share of the group of goods is 80%, and services 20% of the total volume of trade in the world. The annual turnover of trade in goods and raw materials by 2012 is about $20 trillion. According to the UNCTAD report (2013), the growth rate of world trade in goods and services, after their rapid recovery in 2010, again fell to 5% in 2011 and to less than 2% in 2012.

On present stage international trade plays an important role in the economic development of countries, regions, the entire world community:

foreign trade has become a powerful factor in economic growth;
the dependence of countries on international trade has increased significantly.

The main factors affecting the growth of international trade:

development of the international division of labor and internationalization of production;
activities of transnational corporations.

INCOTERMS

All conditions are grouped into four categories for ease of understanding:

"E" - a condition that imposes a minimum obligation on the seller: the seller must only place the goods at the disposal of the buyer at the agreed place - usually at the seller's own premises
- EXW. Ex Works (specified location): item from the seller's warehouse.
"F" - a condition requiring the seller to deliver the goods for transportation in accordance with the instructions of the buyer
- FCA. Free Carrier (specified place): the goods are delivered to the customer's carrier.
- FAS. Free Alongside Ship (indicated port of loading): the goods are delivered to the customer's ship.

International trade - this is a specific, separate sector of the state economy, associated with the sale of parts of the GNP in the world and national markets (national, partial, one country).

international trade - this is the sphere of international commodity-money relations, uniting foreign trade relations of national economies, this is the totality of foreign trade of all countries of the world (international, general, many countries).

Product is any tangible and transportable property moved across the border

Features of international trade in goods

as a rule, it involves crossing the border of countries

occupies 80% of the IEO and 25% of the world production of goods

mediates virtually all other forms of MEO

its development is driven by the development of the international movement of capital and international industrial cooperation

Commodity trade structure

1. By directions:

Export- sale of goods on foreign market providing for its export abroad.

Import- Import and purchase on the domestic market of goods produced abroad.

Re-export- export abroad of previously imported foreign goods that have not undergone any processing in the re-exporting country.

Reimport- Import from abroad of previously exported domestic goods that have not been processed there.

Counter trade- foreign trade operations that provide for mutual obligations of exporters and importers to purchase goods from each other in unified agreements, the indispensable condition of which is the obligation of the exporter to accept certain goods of the buyer as payment for his delivery (for its full value or part) or to organize their purchase by a third party ( barter, trade and industrial offset deals)

Barter- an operation for the direct exchange of an agreed quantity of one commodity for another commodity without the use of a monetary form of payment, drawn up by a single agreement (contract), in which the valuation of goods (services) is carried out in order to create conditions for the equivalence of exchange

trade offset deal- unlike a barter transaction, it involves paying for mutual deliveries independently of each other

Industrial offset deal- assumes that one party supplies the second party with goods, services and (or) technologies used by the latter to create production facilities and produce finished products, after which the second party reimburses these supplies finished products, produced in the production facilities thus created or through the supply of similar products manufactured by third parties in the country

2. By object: raw materials, components, finished products, machinery and equipment

3. The nature: intersectoral, intrasectoral

4. International trade in services: essence, types, classification

Service

an activity that is not embodied in a material product, but always manifests itself in some useful effect that its consumer receives

a change in the position of an institutional unit that has occurred as a result of actions and on the basis of mutual agreement with another institutional unit

Service Features

intangibility and invisibility

immateriality, immateriality

inability to store

absence before the transaction

continuity of production and consumption in time even with the involvement of intermediaries

heterogeneity or variability in quality

Types of trade in services

(according to delivery and provision methods)

- cross-border trade- through cross-border flows, when neither the seller nor the buyer physically crosses the border (41%);

- consumption abroad- through the movement of the buyer to the country of the seller (20%, tourism, treatment, education abroad);

- moving individuals - movement of the seller to the country of the buyer (1%);

- commercial presence- through the movement of a commercial organization to provide services to the country of the buyer, which is associated with FDI (38%).

WTO classification of services

160 types of services divided into 12 main sections

Business services - 46 types

Communication services (communication) - 25 types

Construction and engineering services - 5 types

Distribution (distribution) services - 5 types

Educational services - 5 types

Security Services environment- 4 types

Financial services - 17 types

Health care services and social services- 4 types

Tourism and travel-related services - 4 types

Recreational, cultural and sports services - 5 types

Transport services - 33 types

1. The concept of international trade ……………………………………..……..2

…………………...……3

1.3. Main indicators of world trade…………………………….…….5

……………………………………….….….6

3. Structure and main commodity flows of world trade ……………8

4. Types of world trade ………………………………………………………….….11

4.1. Wholesale…………………………………………………………………11

4.2. Commodity exchanges……………………………………………………………………13

4.3. Futures exchanges.................................................................................................14

4.4. stock exchanges………………………………………………………….………..16

4.5. Trade fairs………………………………………………………………………….…….16

4.6. Currency markets…………………………………………………………….……..17

5. Main problems of international trade …………...…...………….18

Conclusion …………………………………………………………………………..…….…20

1. The concept of international trade

International trade is a form of communication between producers of different countries, arising on the basis of the international division of labor, and expresses their mutual economic dependence. The following definition is often given in the literature: International trade is the process of buying and selling between buyers, sellers and intermediaries in different countries.

World trade is the most common form international relations. It existed long before the formation of the world economy and was its immediate predecessor. International trade exchange is both a prerequisite and a consequence of the international division of labor, and is an important factor in the formation and functioning of the world economy. In its historical evolution, it has gone from single foreign trade transactions to long-term large-scale trade and economic cooperation.

International trade includes the export and import of goods, the sum of which is called turnover, between all countries of the world. However, the concept of "international trade" is used in a narrower sense. It denotes, for example, the total turnover of industrialized countries, the total turnover of developing countries, the total turnover of the countries of a continent, region, for example, the countries of Eastern Europe, etc.

A powerful impetus to this process was the creation in a number of more industrialized countries (England, Holland, etc.) of large-scale machine production, focused on large-scale and regular imports of raw materials from the economically less developed countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America, and exports of manufactured goods to these countries. primarily for consumer use.

1.2. The main stages in the development of world trade

Born in ancient times, world trade reaches a significant scale and acquires the character of stable international commodity-money relations at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries.

In the XX century. World trade has gone through a series of deep crises. The first of these was associated with the World War of 1914-1918, it led to a long and deep disruption of world trade, which lasted until the end of World War II, which shook the entire structure of international economic relations to its foundations. In the post-war period, world trade faced new difficulties associated with the collapse of the colonial system. It should be noted that all these crises were overcome. On the whole, a characteristic feature of the post-war period was a noticeable acceleration in the rate of development of world trade, which reached the highest level in the entire previous history of human society. Since the second half of the 20th century, when international exchange has taken on an “explosive character”, world trade has been developing at a rapid pace. In the period 1950-1994. world trade turnover increased 14 times. According to Western experts, the period between 1950 and 1970 can be described as a "golden age" in the development of international trade. Thus, the average annual growth rate of world exports was in the 50s. 6%, in the 60s. - 8.2. In the period from 1970 to 1991, the physical volume of world exports (that is, calculated at constant prices) increased 2.5 times, the average annual growth rate was 9.0%, in 1991-1995. this indicator was equal to 6.2%. Accordingly, the volume of world trade also increased. Recently, this figure has been growing at an average of 1.9% per year.

It was during this period that an annual 7% growth in world exports was achieved. However, already in the 70s it dropped to 5%, decreasing even more in the 80s. In the late 1980s, world exports showed a noticeable recovery (up to 8.5% in 1988). After a clear decline in the early 1990s, in the mid-1990s, it again demonstrates high sustainable rates, even despite significant annual fluctuations caused first by the September 11 attacks in the United States, and then by the war in Iraq and the resulting surge in world prices for energy resources.

So far, the developing countries have mainly remained suppliers of raw materials, foodstuffs, and relatively simple finished products to the world market. However, the growth rate of trade in raw materials lags markedly behind the overall growth rate of world trade. This lag is due to the development of substitutes for raw materials, their more economical use, and the deepening of their processing. Industrialized countries have almost completely captured the market for high technology products. At the same time, some developing countries, primarily the “newly industrialized countries”, have managed to achieve significant progress in the restructuring of their exports, increasing the share of finished products, industrial products, incl. machines and equipment. Thus, the share of industrial exports of developing countries in the total world volume in the early 1990s was 16.3%. Now this figure is already approaching 25%.

1.3. Main indicators of world trade

The foreign trade of all countries together forms international trade, which is based on the international division of labor. In theory, world trade is characterized by the following main indicators:

Foreign trade turnover of countries, which is the sum of exports and imports;

Export is the removal from the country of goods and services sold to a foreign buyer for sale on a foreign market, or for processing in another country. It also includes the transportation of goods in transit through a third country, the export of goods brought from other countries for sale in a third country, i.e. re-export.

Import is the importation of goods and services from abroad into the country. Import material assets for their sale on the domestic market - visible imports. Imports of component parts, semi-finished products, etc. constitute indirect imports. Foreign currency costs for transshipment of goods, passengers, travel insurance, technology and other services, as well as transfers of companies and individuals abroad are included in the so-called invisible imports.

In addition, international trade is characterized by the following indicators:

overall growth rates;

growth rates relative to production growth;

growth rate of world trade relative to previous years.

The first of these indicators is determined by the ratio of the indicator of the volume of international trade of the year under review to the indicator of the base year. It can be used to characterize the percentage of changes in the volume of international trade over a certain period of time.

Attributing the rate of growth in international trade to the rate of growth in output is the starting point for identifying several characteristics that are important for describing the dynamics of international trade.

Firstly, this indicator characterizes the productivity of production in the country, that is, the amount of goods and services that it can provide to the world market for a certain period of time. Secondly, it can be used to assess the overall level of development of the productive forces of the state from the standpoint of international trade.

2. Theories of international trade

At different times, various theories of world trade appeared and were refuted, which in one way or another tried to explain the origin of this phenomenon, to determine its goals, laws, advantages and disadvantages. The following are the most common theories of international trade.

Mercantilist theory. Within this theory, it was believed that main goal of each state is wealth, and the world has limited wealth, and an increase in the wealth of one country is possible only at the expense of a decrease in the wealth of another country. At the same time, the role of the state in international economic policy was reduced to maintaining a positive trade balance and regulating foreign trade to stimulate exports and reduce imports.

The mercantilists were the first to emphasize the importance of international trade and were the first to describe the balance of payments. The main drawback of this theory is that here the development of countries is seen as possible only through the redistribution of wealth, and not through its growth.

A. Smith's theory of absolute advantages. It was believed that the well-being of nations depended not only on the amount of gold, but also on the ability to produce goods and services. Consequently, the task of the state is to develop production through the division of labor and cooperation. The formulation of the theory itself sounds like this: countries export those goods that they produce at lower costs, i.e. in the production of which they have absolute advantages, and I import those goods that are produced by other countries at lower costs, i.e. in the production of which the trading partners have an advantage.

This theory shows the advantages of the division of labor, but at the same time does not explain trade in the absence of absolute advantages.

D. Ricardo's theory of comparative advantage is formulated as follows: if countries specialize in the production of those goods that they can produce at relatively lower costs compared to other countries, then trade will be mutually beneficial regardless of whether production in one of them is absolutely more effective than the other or not.

This theory was the first to prove the existence of gains from trade and describe aggregate demand and aggregate supply. Although at the same time it does not take into account transport costs and the impact of foreign trade on the distribution of income within the country, acting only in conditions of full employment.

Heckscher-Ohlin's theory of ratio of factors of production. Operates with the concepts of factor intensity (the ratio of the cost of production factors to create a product) and factor saturation (provision with production factors). According to this theory, each country exports those factor-intensive goods for the production of which it has relatively excess factors of production, and imports those for the production of which it experiences a relative shortage of factors of production. This theory derives the reason for the influence of different factors of production on international trade. International trade leads to equalization of prices for factors of production in trading countries.

The limitation of the theory is that only two countries with identical technologies are considered and internal factors are not taken into account.

Leontief's paradox. The well-known economist Wassily Leontiev, studying the structure of US exports and imports in 1956, found that, contrary to the Heckscher-Ohlin theory, exports were dominated by relatively more labor-intensive goods, while imports were dominated by capital-intensive ones. This result became known as Leontief's paradox.

Thus, with the development of the concept of "international trade", its content became more complicated, although by now it has not been possible to create such a theory that would correspond to practice as much as possible.

3. Structure and main commodity flows of world trade

Looking at the structure of world trade in the first half of the 20th century (before the 2nd World War) and in subsequent years, we see significant changes. If in the first half of the century 2/3 of the world trade was accounted for by food, raw materials and fuel, then by the end of the century they account for 1/4 of the trade. The share of trade in manufacturing products increased from 1/3 to 3/4. And finally, more than 1/3 of all world trade in the mid-1990s was trade in machinery and equipment.

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, manufacturing products are of the greatest importance in world trade: they account for 3/4 of the world trade turnover. Particularly rapidly growing is the share of such types of products as machinery, equipment, vehicles, chemical products, manufacturing products, especially science-intensive goods. The share of food, raw materials and fuel is approximately 1/5.

International trade is a system of international commodity-money relations, consisting of the foreign trade of all countries of the world. International trade arose in the process of the emergence of the world market in the XVI-XVIII centuries. Its development is one of the important factors in the development of the world economy of modern times.

The term international trade was first used in the 12th century by the Italian economist Antonio Margaretti, the author of the economic treatise The Power of the Masses in Northern Italy.

Benefits of participating countries in international trade:

the intensification of the reproduction process in national economies is a consequence of increased specialization, creating opportunities for the emergence and development of mass production, increasing the degree of equipment workload, and increasing the efficiency of introducing new technologies;
an increase in export deliveries entails an increase in employment;
international competition necessitates the improvement of enterprises;
export earnings serve as a source of capital accumulation aimed at industrial development.

Theories of international trade

The development of world trade is based on the benefits it brings to the countries participating in it. The theory of international trade gives an idea of what is the basis of this gain from foreign trade, or what determines the direction of foreign trade flows. International trade serves as a tool through which countries, by developing their specialization, can increase the productivity of available resources and thus increase the volume of goods and services they produce, and improve the well-being of the population.

Many well-known economists dealt with international trade issues. The main theories of international trade - Mercantilist theory, A. Smith's Theory of absolute advantages, D. Ricardo's and D. S. Mill's Theory of comparative advantages, Heckscher-Ohlin theory, Leontief's Paradox, Theory life cycle goods, M. Porter's Theory, Rybchinsky's Theorem, as well as Samuelson's and Stolper's Theory.

Mercantilist theory. Mercantilism is a system of views of economists of the XV-XVII centuries, focused on the active intervention of the state in economic activity. Representatives of the direction: Thomas Maine, Antoine de Montchretien, William Stafford. The term was proposed by Adam Smith, who criticized the works of the mercantilists. The mercantilist theory of international trade arose during the period of primitive accumulation of capital and the great geographical discoveries, based on the idea that the presence of gold reserves is the basis of the prosperity of the nation. Foreign trade, the mercantilists believed, should be focused on obtaining gold, since in the case of a simple commodity exchange, ordinary goods, being used, cease to exist, and gold accumulates in the country and can be reused for international exchange.

Trading was considered as a zero-sum game, when the gain of one participant automatically means the loss of the other, and vice versa. To obtain the maximum benefit, it was proposed to increase state intervention and control over the state of foreign trade. The trade policy of the mercantilists, called protectionism, was to create barriers in international trade that protect domestic producers from foreign competition, stimulate exports and restrict imports by imposing customs duties on foreign goods and receiving gold and silver in return for their goods.

The main provisions of the Mercantilist theory of international trade:

the need to maintain an active trade balance of the state (excess of exports over imports);
recognition of the benefits of attracting gold and other precious metals to the country in order to increase its well-being;
money is an incentive for trade, since it is believed that an increase in the mass of money increases the volume of the mass of commodities;
welcome protectionism aimed at importing raw materials and semi-finished products and exporting finished products;
restriction on the export of luxury goods, as it leads to the leakage of gold from the state.

Adam Smith's theory of absolute advantage. In his work An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, in a polemic with the mercantilists, Smith formulated the idea that countries are interested in the free development of international trade, since they can benefit from it regardless of whether they are exporters or importers. Each country should specialize in the production of the product where it has an absolute advantage - a benefit based on the different value of production costs in individual countries participating in foreign trade. The refusal to produce goods in which countries do not have absolute advantages, and the concentration of resources on the production of other goods lead to an increase in total production volumes, an increase in the exchange of products of their labor between countries.

Adam Smith's theory of absolute advantage suggests that a country's real wealth consists of the goods and services available to its citizens. If any country can produce this or that product more and cheaper than other countries, then it has an absolute advantage. Some countries may produce goods more efficiently than others. The country's resources flow into profitable industries, as the country cannot compete in unprofitable industries. This leads to an increase in the productivity of the country, as well as the qualification of the workforce; long periods of production of homogeneous products provide incentives for the development of more efficient methods of work.

Natural advantages for a single country: climate; territory; resources. Acquired advantages for a single country: production technology, that is, the ability to manufacture a variety of products.

The theory of comparative advantages of D. Ricardo and D. S. Mill. In his Principles of Political Economy and Taxation, Ricardo showed that the principle of absolute advantage is only a special case. general rule, and substantiated the theory of comparative (relative) advantage. When analyzing the directions for the development of foreign trade, two circumstances should be taken into account: firstly, economic resources - natural, labor, etc. - are unevenly distributed among countries, and secondly, the efficient production of various goods requires various technologies or combinations of resources.

The advantages that countries have are not given once and for all, D. Ricardo believed, therefore, even countries with absolutely higher levels of production costs can benefit from trade exchange. It is in the interests of each country to specialize in production in which it has the greatest advantage and the least weakness, and for which not absolute, but relative benefit is the greatest - such is the law of comparative advantage of D. Ricardo. According to Ricardo, total output will be greatest when each good is produced by the country that has the lowest opportunity (opportunity) costs. Thus, a relative advantage is a benefit based on lower opportunity (opportunity) costs in the exporting country. Hence, as a result of specialization and trade, both countries participating in the exchange will benefit. An example in this case is the exchange of English cloth for Portuguese wine, which benefits both countries, even if the absolute costs of production of both cloth and wine are lower in Portugal than in England.

Subsequently, D.S. Mill, in his work “Foundations of Political Economy”, gave explanations at what price the exchange is carried out. According to Mill, the price of exchange is set by the laws of supply and demand at such a level that the aggregate of each country's exports pays for the aggregate of its imports—such is the law of international value.

Heckscher-Ohlin theory. This theory of scientists from Sweden, which appeared in the 30s of the twentieth century, refers to the neoclassical concepts of international trade, since these economists did not adhere to the labor theory of value, considering capital and land to be productive along with labor. Therefore, the reason for their trade is the different availability of factors of production in the countries participating in international trade.

The main provisions of their theory boiled down to the following: firstly, countries tend to export those goods for the manufacture of which the factors of production available in the country are used in excess, and, conversely, to import goods, the production of which requires relatively rare factors; secondly, in international trade there is a tendency to equalize "factorial prices"; thirdly, the export of goods can be replaced by the movement of factors of production across national borders.

The neoclassical concept of Heckscher - Ohlin turned out to be convenient for explaining the reasons for the development of trade between developed and developing countries, when in exchange for raw materials coming into the developed countries, machinery and equipment were imported into developing countries. However, not all phenomena of international trade fit into the Heckscher-Ohlin theory, since today the center of gravity of international trade is gradually shifting to the mutual trade of "similar" goods between "similar" countries.

Leontief's paradox. These are the studies of an American economist who questioned the provisions of the Heckscher-Ohlin theory and showed that in the post-war period the US economy specialized in those types of production that required relatively more labor rather than capital. The essence of Leontief's paradox was that the share of capital-intensive goods in exports could grow, while the share of labor-intensive goods could decrease. In fact, when analyzing the US trade balance, 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 high, but the price of labor in the cost of goods is much lower than in US exports. The capital intensity of labor in the United States is significant, together with high labor productivity, this leads to a significant impact on the price of labor in export deliveries. 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 US economy. This leads to an increase in the labor intensity of the entire American economy, not excluding exports.

Theory of the product life cycle. It was put forward and substantiated by R. Vernoy, Ch. Kindelberger and L. Wels. In their opinion, the product from the moment it enters the market until it leaves it goes through a cycle consisting of five stages:

product development. The company finds and implements a new product idea. During this time, sales are zero and costs rise.
bringing the product to market. There is no profit due to the high costs of marketing activities, sales volume is growing slowly;
quick market conquest, increase in profits;
maturity. Sales growth is slowing down, as the bulk of consumers have already been attracted. The level of profit remains unchanged or decreases due to an increase in the cost of marketing activities to protect the product from competition;
decline. Decline in sales and shrinking profits.

Theory of M. Porter. This theory introduces the concept of a country's competitiveness. It is national competitiveness, according to Porter, that determines the success or failure in specific industries and the place that the country occupies in the world economy. National competitiveness is determined by the ability of the industry. At the heart of explaining a country's competitive advantage is the home country's role in stimulating renewal and improvement (that is, in stimulating the production of innovations). Government measures to maintain competitiveness:

government impact on factor conditions;
government influence on demand conditions;
government impact on related and supporting industries;
government influence on the strategy, structure and rivalry of firms.

A serious incentive to success in the global market is sufficient competition in the domestic market. Artificial dominance of enterprises through state support, according to Porter, is a negative decision that leads to waste and inefficient use of resources. The theoretical premises of M. Porter served as the basis for developing recommendations at the state level to increase the competitiveness of foreign trade goods in Australia, New Zealand and the USA in the 90s of the twentieth century.

Rybchinsky's theorem. The theorem consists in the assertion that if the value of one of the two factors of production increases, then in order to maintain constant prices for goods and factors, it is necessary to increase the production of those products that intensively use this increased factor, and reduce the production of the rest of the products that intensively use the fixed factor. In order for the prices of goods to remain constant, the prices of factors of production must remain unchanged. The prices of factors of production can only remain constant if the ratio of the factors used in the two industries remains constant. In the case of an increase in one factor, this can only happen if there is an increase in production in the industry in which this factor is intensively used, and a decrease in production in another industry, which will lead to the release of a fixed factor that will become available for use along with a growing factor in an expanding industry. .

Theory of Samuelson and Stolper. In the middle of the XX century. (1948), American economists P. Samuelson and W. Stolper improved the Heckscher-Ohlin theory, imagining that in the case of homogeneity of factors of production, identity of technology, perfect competition and complete mobility of goods, international exchange equalizes the price of factors of production between countries. The authors base their concept on the Ricardian model with the additions of Heckscher and Ohlin and consider trade not just as a mutually beneficial exchange, but also as a means to reduce the gap in the level of development between countries.

Development and structure of international trade

International trade is a form of exchange of products of labor in the form of goods and services between sellers and buyers of different countries. The characteristics of international trade are the volume of world trade, the commodity structure of exports and imports and its dynamics, as well as the geographical structure of international trade. Export is the sale of goods to a foreign buyer with its export abroad. Import - purchase from foreign sellers of goods with its import from abroad.

Modern international trade is developing at a fairly high pace. Among the main trends in the development of international trade are the following:

1. There is a predominant development of trade in comparison with the branches of material production and the entire world economy as a whole. Thus, according to some estimates, over the period of the 1950s–1990s, the world's GDP increased by about 5 times, and commodity exports by at least 11 times. Accordingly, if in 2000 the world's GDP was estimated at $30 trillion, then the volume of international trade - exports plus imports - was $12 trillion.

2. In the structure of international trade, the share of manufacturing products is growing (up to 75%), of which more than 40% are engineering products. Only 14% is fuel and other raw materials, the share of agricultural products is about 9%, clothing and textiles - 3%.

3. Among the changes in the geographical direction of international trade flows, there is an increase in the role of developed countries and China. However, developing countries (mainly due to the promotion of new industrial countries with a pronounced export orientation from among them) managed to significantly increase their influence in this area. In 1950, they accounted for only 16% of world trade, and by 2001 - already 41.2%.

Since the second half of the 20th century, the uneven dynamics of foreign trade has manifested itself. In the 1960s, Western Europe was the main center of international trade. Its exports were almost 4 times higher than those of the United States. By the end of the 1980s, Japan began to emerge as a leader in terms of competitiveness. In the same period, it was joined by the "new industrial countries" of Asia - Singapore, Hong Kong Taiwan. However, by the mid-1990s, the United States was taking the world's leading position in terms of competitiveness. Export of goods and services in the world in 2007, according to the WTO, amounted to 16 trillion. USD. The share of the group of goods is 80%, and services - 20% of the total volume of trade in the world.

4. The most important direction in the development of foreign trade is intracompany trade within TNCs. According to some data, intra-company international deliveries account for up to 70% of all world trade, 80–90% of sales of licenses and patents. Since TNCs are the most important link in the world economy, world trade is at the same time trade within TNCs.

5. Trade in services is expanding, and in several ways. Firstly, this is a cross-border supply, for example, distance learning. Another mode of supply of services, consumption abroad, involves the movement of the consumer or the transfer of his property to the country where the service is provided, for example, the service of a guide on a tourist trip. The third way is a commercial presence, such as the operation of a foreign bank or restaurant in the country. And the fourth way is the movement of individuals who are service providers abroad, for example, doctors or teachers. The most developed countries of the world are the leaders in trade in services.

Regulation of international trade

The regulation of international trade is divided into state regulation and regulation through international agreements and the creation of international organizations.

Methods state regulation international trade can be divided into two groups: tariff and non-tariff.

1. Tariff methods are reduced to the use customs duties- special taxes that are levied on products of international trade. Customs tariffs are a fee charged by the state for the clearance of goods and other valuables being transported abroad. Such a fee, called a duty, is included in the price of the goods and is ultimately paid by the consumer. Customs taxation involves the use of import duties to hinder the importation of foreign goods into the country, export duties are used less frequently.

According to the form of calculation, fees are distinguished:

a) ad valorem, which are charged as a percentage of the price of the goods;

b) specific, charged in the form of a certain amount of money from the volume, weight or unit of goods.

The most important purposes of using import duties are both the direct restriction of imports and the restriction of competition, including unfair competition. Its extreme form is dumping - the sale of goods on the foreign market at prices lower than those existing for an identical product on the domestic market.

2. Non-tariff methods are diverse and represent a set of direct and indirect restrictions on foreign economic activity through an extensive system of economic, political and administrative measures. These include:

quotas (contingenting) - the establishment of quantitative parameters within which it is possible to carry out certain foreign trade operations. In practice, contingents are usually established in the form of lists of goods, the free import or export of which is limited to a percentage of the volume or value of their national production. When the quantity or amount of the contingent is exhausted, the export (import) of the relevant product is terminated;
licensing - issuance of special permits (licenses) to business entities for conducting foreign trade operations. It is often used in conjunction with quotas to control license-based quotas. In some cases, the licensing system acts as a kind of customs taxation applied by the country to obtain additional customs revenues;
embargo - a ban on export-import operations. It may extend to certain group goods or administered in relation to individual countries;
currency control - a restriction in the monetary sphere. For example, a financial quota may limit the amount of currency an exporter can receive. Quantitative restrictions may apply to the volume of foreign investment, the amount of foreign currency exported by citizens abroad, etc.;
taxes on export-import transactions - taxes as non-tariff measures that are not regulated by international agreements, like customs duties, and therefore are levied on both domestic and foreign goods. Government subsidies for exporters are also possible;
administrative measures, which are mainly related to restrictions on the quality of goods sold on the domestic market. An important place is occupied by national standards. Failure to comply with the standards of the country may serve as a reason for the ban on the import of imported products and their sale on the domestic market. Similarly, a system of national transport tariffs often creates an advantage in paying freight to exporters over importers. In addition, other forms of indirect restrictions can also be used: the closure of certain ports and railway stations for foreigners, an order to use a certain share of national raw materials in the production of products, a ban on the purchase government organizations imported goods if there are national analogues, etc.

The high importance of MT for the development of the world economy led to the creation by the world community of special international regulatory organizations, whose efforts are aimed at developing rules, principles, procedures for the implementation of international trade transactions and monitoring their execution by the member states of these organizations.

A special role in the regulation of international trade is played by multilateral agreements operating within the framework of:

GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade);
WTO();
GATS (General Agreement on Trade in Services);
TRIPS (Agreement on trade aspects intellectual property rights);

GATT. In accordance with the fundamental provisions of the GATT, trade between countries should be carried out on the basis of the most favored nation (MFN) principle, i.e., in the trade of the GATT member countries, the most favored nation treatment (MFN) is established, guaranteeing equality and non-discrimination. However, at the same time, exceptions from the NSP were established for countries that are members of economic integration groups; for countries, former colonies, which are in traditional relations with the former mother countries; for border and coastal trade. According to the most rough estimates, “exceptions” account for at least 60% of world trade in finished goods, which deprives PNP of universality.

GATT recognizes as the only acceptable means of regulating the MT customs tariffs, which are iteratively (from round to round) reduced. Currently, their average level is 3-5%. But here, too, there are exceptions that allow the use of non-tariff remedies (quotas, export and import licenses, tax incentives). These include cases of application of agricultural production regulation programs, violation of the balance of payments, implementation of regional development programs and assistance.

GATT contains the principle of renunciation of unilateral actions and decision-making in favor of negotiations and consultations, if such actions (decisions) can lead to restriction of freedom of trade.

GATT - the predecessor of the WTO - made its decisions at the negotiations rounds of all members of this Agreement. There were eight in total. The most significant decisions that have guided the WTO in regulating the MT to date were taken at the last (eighth) Uruguay Round (1986-1994). This round further expanded the range of issues regulated by the WTO. It included trade in services, as well as a program to reduce the amount of customs duties, intensify efforts to regulate the MT with the products of certain industries (including Agriculture) and strengthening control over those areas of national economic policy that have an impact on the country's foreign trade.

It was decided to escalate customs duties as the degree of processing of goods increases while reducing duties on raw materials and eliminating them for some types alcoholic beverages, construction and agricultural equipment, office furniture, toys, pharmaceutical products - only 40% of world imports. The liberalization of trade in clothing, textiles and agricultural products continued. But customs duties are recognized as the last and only means of regulation.

In area anti-dumping measures the concepts of “legitimate subsidies” and “eligible subsidies” were adopted, which included subsidies aimed at protecting the environment and regional development provided that their size is not less than 3% of the total value of imports of goods or 1% of its total value. All the rest are classified as illegal and their use in foreign trade is prohibited.

Among the issues of economic regulation that indirectly affect foreign trade, the Uruguay Round included requirements for a minimum export of goods produced at the joint venture, the mandatory use of local components, and a number of others.

WTO. The Uruguay Round decided to create the WTO, which became the legal successor of the GATT and retained its main provisions. But the decisions of the round supplemented them with the objectives of ensuring free trade not only through liberalization, but also through the use of so-called linkages. The meaning of linkages is that any government decision to increase the tariff is taken simultaneously (in conjunction with) the decision to liberalize imports of other goods. The WTO is outside the scope of the UN. This allows it to pursue its own independent policy and control over the activities of the participating countries to comply with the adopted agreements.

GATS. Certain specifics are different regulation of international trade in services. This is due to the fact that services, characterized by an extreme variety of forms and content, do not form a single market that would have common features. But it has general tendencies that make it possible to regulate it at the global level, even taking into account the new moments in its development that are introduced by TNCs that dominate it and monopolize it. Currently, the global services market is regulated at four levels: international (global), sectoral (global), regional and national.

General regulation at the global level is carried out within the framework of the GATS, which entered into force on January 1, 1995. Its regulation uses the same rules that were developed by the GATT in relation to goods: non-discrimination, national treatment, transparency (publicity and unity of reading laws), non-application of national laws to the detriment of foreign manufacturers. However, the implementation of these rules is hampered by the peculiarities of services as a commodity: the lack of a real form of most of them, the coincidence of the time of production and consumption of services. The latter means that the regulation of the terms of trade in services means the regulation of the conditions for their production, and this in turn means the regulation of the conditions for investing in their production.

The GATS consists of three parts: a framework agreement defining general principles and regulation of trade in services; special agreements acceptable to individual service industries; and a list of commitments by national governments to eliminate restrictions on service industries. Thus, only one level, the regional level, falls out of the field of activity of the GATS.

The GATS agreement is aimed at liberalizing trade in services and covers the following types of services: services in the field of telecommunications, finance and transport. The issues of export sales of films and television programs are excluded from the scope of its activities, which is associated with the fears of individual states (European countries) of losing the originality of their national culture.

Sectoral regulation of international trade in services is also carried out on a global scale, which is associated with their global production and consumption. Unlike GATS, the institutions that regulate these services are specialized. For example, civil aviation is regulated by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), foreign tourism is regulated by the World Tourism Organization (WTO), shipping- International Maritime Organization (IMO).

The regional level of international trade in services is regulated within the framework of economic integration groupings, in which restrictions on mutual trade in services are lifted (as, for example, in the EU) and restrictions on such trade with third countries may be introduced.

The national level of regulation concerns foreign trade in services of individual states. It is implemented through bilateral trade agreements, integral part which may be trade in services. A significant place in such agreements is given to the regulation of investments in the service sector.

Source - World Economy: tutorial/ E.G. Guzhva, M.I. Lesnaya, A.V. Kondratiev, A.N. Egorov; SPbGASU. - St. Petersburg, 2009. - 116 p.