Impediments to trade and political disputes. An analysis of the EU-Russian sanctions

Abstract

Nowadays, international trade represents an essential tool for the economic development of every country in the world. In such a context, the growing importance of trade connections have attracted the interest of the different policy makers and, as a consequence of that, trade started to be increasingly regulated at the international level. After presenting a detailed overview of the barriers that have been applied to trade over time and by focusing on their main and distinctive categories, this study focuses on a specific impediment to trade: the economic sanctions associated to political conflicts. Mainly applied as a consequence of international violations and illicits, they can also have a huge and significant impact on trade volumes of a target country. The study ends with an empirical analysis of the sanctions and countersanctions within trade relations between Russia and European Union in 2014. This is an emblematic case due to the high level of trade flows between these two partners. The aim of this research has been to investigate the impact of sanctions not only on the country itself but also on third and sanctioning countries.