In 2019, the EU’s trade with the rest of the world grew by 2.5%, according to the 4th report on the implementation of trade agreements, published on Thursday 12 November.
Overall, the document shows the growth observed for trade with the EU’s partner countries (3.4%). The trade agreements with Canada and Japan have contributed to this increase. Switzerland remained the EU’s privileged partner in 2019.
One third of total trade is conducted under trade treaties. The comprehensive economic and trade agreement with Canada (Ceta) has made it possible to increase trade by 24.5% over the 2018-2019 period compared to 2015-2017, when the treaty was not in force (8.8% between 2018 and 2019).
The European Commission estimates that in 2020, EU exports to non-Member States could decrease by between 9 and 15%, with imports decreasing by between 11 and 14%, due to the Covid-19 crisis.
The Commission also announced the launch of the Access2markets platform, which provides a simplified overview of all the rules governing international trade. The ROSA search engine allows companies to find out, for example, the customs duties in force for a product, a country of origin or a country of destination.
See the report: https://bit.ly/32FKznN (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)