Features of the EAEU Strategy for the Formation of an FTA Network

The number of free trade agreements (FTA) in international trade is rapidly growingand it makes them the main tool for countries’ trade liberalization. Created in the 2015, the Eurasian economic union (EAEU), that has the competence of the customs union, also started actively building a network of FTAs. To date, four such preferential agreements and one non-preferential trade agreement are in force, and at least three other agreements are expected to be signed in 2021–2025. Some specific features can be attributed to the emerging network that will impact the economic development of the EAEU Member States and will allow its partners to adapt their foreign trade policies accordingly. The geography of the EAEU agreements demonstrates the intention to create a wide network of FTA covering primarily the Eastern hemisphere, with the potential to extend it to all major regions. The EAEU partners are generally small States and notthe strongest economies, and the content of FTA agreements is not yet as broad and deep as, for example, concluded by the EU. It is noteworthy that the system almost does not contain WTO-extra provisions. However, the EAEU is only at the beginning of building an FTA network that may change the EAEU position in the international trade system. The main goal of the article is to track the distinct features of this new EAEU trade policy and to identify specifics and prospects for the emerging FTA network, based on the already concluded agreements and the coming ones.