EXPORT-IMPORT DYNAMICS WITHIN THE EUROPEAN UNION TRADE POLICY

International trade is an essential part of the market economy and provides great opportunities for small countries to support the internal market with sufficient goods and services as well as ensures an opportunity to participate on the external market. The research aim is to explore export-import dynamics in Latvia and the European Union under the EU trade policy. The following research tasks have been advanced to achieve the set aim: 1) to survey the EU trade policy development; and 2) to analyse the export-import dynamics of the EU and Latvia. The European Union is the leader in the world international trade having provided USD 2307 billion of total world export volume in 2013. The major international trading partners are the United States and China; the main export products are machinery and transport equipment, while the main import products are fuel, lubricants, and related materials. The international trade balance of Latvia has remained negative for several years due to continuing high volume of imports and low volume of exports. However, in 2013, export grew to EUR 10.2 million, while import - EUR 12.64 million. The basic export products are agricultural goods, while import is governed by machinery products. The most important cooperation partners are Lithuania, Estonia, Germany, Poland, and Russia. The research is mainly based on the monographic descriptive method as well as the methods of analysis and synthesis are used to study the problem elements and synthesise coherencies or formulate regularities.