International Trade, Politics and Export Control: Bosch Rexroth Oil Control S.p.A. Case Study

International trade and international relationships are becoming nowadays more important than ever. Globalization has caused a stabilization and a reinforcement of the commercial relationships among countries who are now interdependent. The number of preferential trade agreements between countries and trade blocs is continuously growing. However, the international trade economy, differently from other areas of economics, display an evident gap between what policy makers practice and what economists preach. The superiority of free trade, respect of protectionism, is well known, yet international trade is rarely free. Protectionist policies and sovereign tendencies will be analyzed and compared to free trade policies with a critical look, trying to understand their impact on a multinational company. As a matter of fact, through an inner questionnaire administered to Bosch Rexroth Oil Control S.p.A employees, these recent trends, with a particular focus on Brexit and Donald Trump's policies, will be discussed.