Trade is not just about goods
Eurostat has focused only on the trade of goods, criticizes the political scientist. According to Eurostat, 27-year trade with China was 586 billion euros last year, down from 31 billion euros for the United States, a significant change from Euro-US trade in 2019 to 617 billion euros and Europe-China trade to 561.2 billion euros.
“However, trade in goods is not limited to trade between countries“Trade in non-Eurostat services should also be taken into account. Trade in services is growing faster than trade in goods, and more jobs in Europe and the United States are driven by services than by production, and therefore the United States is the EU’s main trading partner in the region,” he said.
Final business figures for services for 2020 are not yet available, but Hamilton says we have data for the first three quarters of last year. It estimates that trade volume of services between the EU and the United States during this period was 296.3 billion euros, which is 5 times more than in China (53.3 billion euros).
If we average these figures throughout 2020, we will see that the total trade volume between the EU and China is about 657 billion EU, which is 40% less than the total trade volume between the 27 and the United States, which is 950 billion euros, the educator points out.
“In short, if you look at the overall trade flows, it is clear that the United States, the EU’s largest trading partner, is, in fact, not just one of them, as it has been for decades., ”Hamilton writes.
Vs. Duvoprudovka. German Autobahn
Trade is not only about the flow of goods, international trade is so vast and complex that it cannot be reduced to an indicator, i.e. goods, the political scientist insists. According to him, it ignores not only the importance of services, but also the many economic ties that bind the EU and the United States and goes much deeper than similar relations for Brussels and Washington to Beijing.
He compares the economic relations of the United States and Europe with China in a double-track, while Atlantic economic relations compare with a major highway. In addition, Hamilton notes that goods flow on the imaginary road to China, that they are busy and that any accident can cause constipation. He cites supply chain disruptions as a result of the corona virus infection and the US-China customs war.
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There are only two short lanes for services on this imaginary road, making the comparison an expert. China and the EU are trying to create a new investment route that they believe could divert some traffic and improve overall connectivity, but despite an agreement reached last December, the investment route is under construction as some EU member states and MEPs oppose it. , The resulting contract has not yet been approved, and the process could take this year.
On the other hand, the economic highway connecting the EU and the United States is similar to the German Autobahn, with very low speed limits, wide lanes for goods and special lanes for services, investment and sales by companies on both sides of the Atlantic, Hamilton declares. It is a reminder that the Atlantic digital trade calculates three-quarters of the world’s digital content, that there are avenues for innovation on the imaginary highway that facilitates research and development, and that the world’s strong international partnership in this area. The political scientist says this is similar to the jobs employed by 16 million Europeans and Americans.
“In each of these indicators, the relationship between the EU and the United States is much stronger and much deeper than the relationship between the two in China.“For example, in the first three quarters of last year, US companies invested $ 55 billion in Europe, seven times more than Chinese companies,” he said.
Despite the recession-induced epidemics, US companies have earned $ 254 billion from their operations in Europe, twenty-three times more than China, Hamilton notes. He notes that despite the turmoil in political and economic Atlantic relations in recent years, there is no doubt that the EU and the United States are each other’s most important trading partners.