International conflicts are negatively impacting Dutch companies trading internationally

A majority of Dutch companies that trade internationally are suffering due to the many conflicts that are currently ongoing in the world. This has been revealed after a survey of over a thousand companies conducted by the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO).

Around 61 percent of the companies surveyed experience difficulty, whether directly or indirectly, due to the war in Ukraine. The RVO said that this is only a small percentage below the survey results from last year, which shows that this conflict still strongly influences international trade. Many international sanctions have been imposed due to the war.

A quarter of the companies asked have had difficulties due to the war between Israel and Hamas. This is not only due to the war in the Gaza Strip but also the attacks perpetrated by Houthi rebels in Yemen on ships in the Red Sea.

The attacks from the rebels were in response to the Israeli attacks in Gaza. This resulted in many ships being unable to travel through the Red Sea and the Suez Canal, which affected worldwide trade routes. The problems for business owners caused by this were often high transport costs or long delivery times.

Over 20 percent of companies surveyed said that the tensions between the United States and China have had a negative impact. RVO found it surprising that Brexit no longer seems to impact trade significantly. A third of business owners said they experienced difficulties due to the United Kingdom leaving the European Union a year ago.

Europe was still the most important sales market for Dutch businesses. As expected, due to the weakening economy, the total goods exported to the European market dropped compared to a year ago.

According to the research, exports to Germany and Belgium dropped the most. The amount of exports to Asia increased slightly.