WORLD TRADE: GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT TRENDS

Abstract

World trade, which continues to be the most widespread form of international economic relations, is currently being transformed by the following main trends: 1) the application of sustainable development practices in the sphere of trade; 2) the spread of regional trade blocs and partnerships; 3) diversification of supply chains; 4) the growth of the share of services in world trade; 5) the influence of global political processes and trends on the development of world trade. The article comprehensively examines the key global trends in the development of world trade, which determine its current format and prospects for further transformation in the context of increasing interdependence of national economies. First of all, the introduction of sustainable development practices into international trade is analyzed, which allows obtaining a number of advantages, including reducing production and operating costs, improving brand reputation, rational use of resources, reducing dependence on unstable raw material markets and growing environmental requirements, increasing investment attractiveness, developing new market segments. Attention is also focused on the active spread of regional trade blocs and integration associations, such as RCEP, USMCA, CPTPP, the EU, which allow their participants to protect their markets from global competition, reduce dependence on traditional global superpowers, increase resilience to global shocks, etc. The article examines the trend towards diversification of global supply chains, which is caused, in particular, by the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine unleashed by Russia, terrorist tension in the Red Sea region, the dominance of Somali pirates, the climate-related drought in the Panama Canal, and geopolitical tensions. In this sense, a number of strategic approaches are being implemented, including reshoring, nearshoring, friendshoring, and diversification. In addition, the rapid growth of the share of services in the structure of world trade is emphasized. The impact of global political processes on the trade sphere, which is caused by territorial conflicts, ideological contradictions, regional rivalry for influence, etc., is separately considered. In particular, their impact on world oil prices is shown.