Initiated NTBs to main trade partners from the EU28

The initiated NTBs are linked to the growth of exports and imports for the European Union. The rise in trade in 2010, despite the number of NTBs initiated, can be explained by various phenomena. First, the factors that contributed to the unusually large drop in world trade in 2009 may have also helped boost the size of the rebound in 2010. These include the widening of global supply chains and the product composition of trade compared to output. Moreover, the goods that were mostly affected by the downturn (consumer durables, industrial machinery, etc.) have a larger share in world trade than in world GDP, which increased the magnitude of the trade slump relative to GDP in 2009, and which had a similar positive effect during the recovery of 2010. This particular time period (2008-2011) apart, it is interesting to observe to what point the growth of exports and imports in the European Union depends on the initiated NTBs. The relationship is inverse and clearly visible in the graph below.
The European Union also imposes NTBs on its trading partners. Moreover, in some periods, the European Union broadly raises the number of initiated NTBs, as the table below shows. This proves the existence of common trends in the evolution of initiated NTBs on a global scale. Another explanation for initiating NTBs is to respond to other trade partners that previously initiated measures against the EU goods or services.