handelsmacht

Handelsmacht, translated as "trading power," is a concept in international political economy that denotes the capacity of an actor—often a nation-state, a regional bloc, or a large economic actor such as a multinational company—to influence terms of international trade. Handelsmacht arises from a combination of scale, access to essential goods, market access, financial resources, and the ability to constrain or reward partners through instruments like tariffs, sanctions, export controls, and trade agreements. It also depends on the ability to shape standards, technology, and supply chains that others rely on.

Actors and contexts: States with large bilateral trade flows, blocs with integrated internal markets, or firms controlling critical inputs can exert handelsmacht. The term is commonly applied to major economies such as the United States, the European Union, and China, as well as to dominant suppliers of strategic resources or components.

Indicators and usage: Analysts assess handelsmacht through measures such as share of global trade, dependence on key partners, control over strategic technologies or resources, currency use in trade, and the capacity to impose costs or offer incentives in negotiations. Limitations exist: trade power is constrained by international law, coalition-building, domestic economic health, diversification, and alternative supply routes.

In policy discussions, handelsmacht is used to analyze bargaining leverage in trade agreements, sanctions regimes, and export-control policies, as well as the resilience of national economies to external shocks.