Discrepancies in International Trade Data

In theory, exports from country A to country B reported by country A should be equal to imports of country B from country A reported by country B. The reality is not so ideal. For example, lets compare data on Russian imports, reported by Russia, to data on exports to Russia, reported by Russian trade partners. Russia reported that its imports from China and Germany were $48.2 bln. and $38.5 bln. in 2011. At the same time China and Germany reported that their exports to Russia were $38.9 bln....