International Trade Blog

Yeah the global economic crisis is ruling the world and the export sector has suffered huge loses, but who said that there is only international trade? There is also national or domestic trade and in general it can turn out very profitable.

Well the global export levels might be down, so maybe ot would be wise to turn our attention towards domestic trade. For some countries domestic trade can be as profitable as international trade. By this I mean the countries like USA, China, Russia, India and some other larger countries. Though to be successful in your corresponding domestic market you must carefully research the needs of the given market. What does the market need and what does the customer require. It would be pointless to start selling exclusive cars in Outer Mongolia. It would be just plain stupid. Food and first need item would be the correct logical choice. Even if your domestic market is oversaturated with different offers there is always a way to break into a market. Be elastic if your domestic is over flooded with food item then maybe look farther that it ant turn your attention to such public services like restaurants and low cost eateries. There is always a way to make money no matter the overall situation. So even if international trade seems unprofitable there will always be the domestic market and if somebody is making money of it why should not you do the same?

No one can actually tell when exactly this global crisis will end. So what should we do in the meantime, just sit with our hands in pockets and do nothing. Hell no! If there is money to be made why should we remain on the sideline? You probably won’t be able to make millions, but you sure as hell can make a living. Although who am I to say that you cannot make millions. These are uncertain and weird times. You can loose all your fortune at a heartbeat, but at the same time various possibilities present themselves to you at such a time. Use whatever means possible and take advantage of all tools at your disposal. This might be a time of despair, but at the same time it can be a chance of a lifetime.

To be successful in trade and business in general you have to posses certain qualities. You might be adventurous, organized and sometimes just plain lucky, but most importantly you have to be smart and wiling constantly to learn something new.

Business and trade especially requires strategic and tactic decisions. To make money you have to be ready to react to the slightest changes in the market, but how to make the correct decision at the appropriate time? Well if you are a natural born merchant then it might be an affair of heart or gut, but a smarter choice might be the brain. Trade as such can be learned. By obtaining new knowledge it is possible to translate even the slightest fluctuation of the market and even predict it next move. This is no magic, just plain and simple know-how. It is advisable that before starting a business you should conduct a thorough research of the sphere. There are a large number of books and manuals available so use whatever you can. Granted not all are free, but it is better to spend a few bucks at the beginning than suffer great loses later. When we were small children and played video games and watched movies trade seemed so simple. Just buy something and sell it for a higher price. Actually it is far more difficult, but still manageable. You might get lucky and your gut feeling would show you the right choice, but the next time you listen to it might be fatal. The safe bet always should be knowledge. It is an investment nobody can take from you and will provide various benefits in the future. If you want to listen to your gut then place a bet on your favorite football team, but do not entrust your business dealings to it.

This is of course only my opinion and others might say that it is better to learn by doing. While this might be true to a certain point I still believe that there always should be a certain level of base knowledge or else you might end up selling refrigerators to penguins.

Global trade today is as ordinary as buying a carton of milk in your local supermarket. People are not only selling goods and services; information can be a valuable asset. Not only a valuable item, but also potentially quite profitable.

Well when we think about trade we usually think about the exchange of real hands on goods, but the implementation of Internet has created a totally new type of commodity – information. You do not need large warehouses and elaborate transportation means to trade with it. In fact in most cases information exists only electronically. By the term information we must understand everything starting from books and newspapers up to various manuals and ‘’How to’s’’. I think we all understand that selling books online is a very profitable deal, but we must think farther. What will the future bring? Sooner or latter the physical paper book will become obsolete and some technologies will be developed to enjoy reading an electronic book the same as the real deal. Meaning there probably will be huge online libraries and stores providing a large amount of information while earning decent money. The other thing is costs. It is possible to create your own information product with virtually no costs at all , apart from your time. You can quite safely store it on your personal computer and make as much copies as you like or need without any additional costs.

Sounds incredibly easy and profitable, but in fact it is far more difficult than it seems. Creating your own information business sounds easy in theory, but real life it can be a tough job. First of all not all of us are natural born writers. I guess that is why not every one of us can write a bestseller. Another important thing is to find the correct target audience. Information is not a vitally needed product and for people to buy it it must be very good and really valuable. You cannot sell junk. No I better rephrase this; you can sell junk, but not very much of it and not for a long time. You always must take in account the long term profitability of a project. Any project or else you are just wasting your resources.

The trade of information can be a profitable thing you just have to show serious attitude towards it. Sooner or latter information will be more valuable than gold.

The economic crisis has hit more or less everybody in the world and while some might secretly be very happy that, for example, USA is hit hard and struggling, we sometimes forget that on some levels we are all connected. That is why they call it global economic crisis.

We must admit that the US dollar is the most widespread currency. Many national currencies are aligned to the dollar and very much react to the changes of the dollar’s value. Many governments have obtained huge securities from USA and the low value of the dollar decreases its own value. The same connectivity applies to the economy. Basically as long as USA economy is struggling so will many other country economies. Because, lets face it, USA is currently the most powerful country in the world. Countries like China, Japan, Mexico and many others are quite dependent from trade with USA. Although the relationship between China and USA is not the best one, China has understood that the unstable US economy and the low value of dollar is affecting them all as their own exporters are struggling just because of this fact. So China has requested talks with USA president Obama about the economic situation and possible solution. A commendable fact in deed! No matter the previous relationships we must see farther our own yard and apparently some countries have began to do just that..

The global crisis can be beaten, but it can be only beaten by combined global efforts. There is no off switch for the crisis and it will not magically stop at a certain date. At least temporary we should forget all the bad blood between us all and try to pull the cart out of the dirt all together. When the situation is resolved we can return to previous state of mind. We must remember who actually suffers the most during this crisis. It is not the countries or the large corporations; it is the people, me included. So let’s stop screwing around and do something about it.

International trade might be quite a common thing nowadays and we conduct business with every possible nation, but do we really use the huge potential of Africa?

Well China and India might be the emerging global players, but these are not the only countries with industrial potential and massive labor force. Somehow we have forgotten a whole continent – Africa. Speaking in geographical terms it is a lot closer than Asia so the potential transportation costs should be considerably closer, but this huge continent has only a handful of countries that can play a serious part in the spectacle of global market. Why is that so? After all Africa possesses huge quantity of valuable natural resources which in a normal case would be one of requirements for a substantial industrial base. But in reality an industrial base of Africa is almost non-existent. When we mention Africa we almost immediately and only think of Republic of South Africa, but there are other countries as well who theoretically have the potential to become at least an advanced country. Continue reading »

As the world evolves and humanity strives to equality the idea of conducting business and trade ethically seems an unrealistic goal. But is this the actual goal we should strive for?

Trade has existed since the beginning of time and we understand this concept as equal exchange of goods. That sounds good in theory, but what we all actually try to achieve is make profit by buying cheap and selling for profit. Basically that means using any means necessary to acquire an item as cheap as possible. Such a concept has been there for a long time just think of all the trade Europeans conducted with natives from all newly discovered lands. Although there are no more lands to discover today people still find ways to get the most out of international trade. In general we all might condemn countries that oppress their people and their civil rights; we still buy items manufactured in these countries. And guess what somebody sells these items and makes a lot of money. One could say they are profiting from the misery of such people. Is it ethical? Probably not most of us sure are happy that such trade exists because it offers a possibility to afford things we might not be able to acquire. Continue reading »

Lets take a quick glance at another B2B portal – www.globalsources.com. Much like other B2B portals this one also concentrates it attention to the trade with China and no wonder because China with its massive industrial base and huge labor force can be a profitable trade partner.

The portal has more than 1 million active users and delivers information on 4.3 million items. Quite a nice spread don’t you think? The main language of communication is English which allows conducting trade with Chinese more efficiently. The portal also organizes trade shows which take place in 10 various cities. Continue reading »

We may consider China and India the leading players in south-east Asia, but lets not forget Indonesia. Indonesia offers various opportunities for profit both for exporters and importers. So lets take a closer look at Indonesia.

Indonesia is an island based country and consists of 17508 island, but only about 6000 of them are inhabited. Statistically Indonesia is the 16th largest country in the world with a population of more than 200 million. The main religion is Islamic and you should keep that in mind when conducting business in Indonesia. Indonesia is a democratic country which in general is a good idea, but at the same time it is a good soil for corruption and the level of corruption in Indonesia is one of the highest in south-east Asia. Continue reading »

What actually is international trade and what is the point of it? This is the first question for every new enterprise. In short – international true is the exchange of goods and services between two countries. Sounds simple, but let’s review it a little bit.

Trade is the most ancient form of communication. People from various places and with different languages met and they could not even understand each other, but were able to exchange something between another. Was it a fur for a tool or food for a weapon it does not matter because it was the principle of trade? As the world evolved people realized that they cannot produce everything. Northern countries realized that they will not be able to make wine and southern countries realized that they liked the fur from the north that was not available to them. So they started to trade between each other and thus international trade was born. Continue reading »

By Pauline Go

International trade can be broadly termed as exchange of goods and services between two countries or across two international boundaries. Trade between nations existed from ancient times. International trade often had a significant influence in determining the socio-economic, political and cultural scenario of a country.

International trade between two countries is heavily influenced by the existing bilateral relations between the nations. During the early times, international trade was strictly regulated and was under the influence of high tariffs. During this period, countries mainly adopted the policy of mercantilism where the inflow of capital determined the prosperity of the nation. However, with the advent of globalization and industrialization during 19th century, these regulations have been relaxed and the concept of free trade has been adopted. In this model, the trade is not regulated by any government-imposed restrictions which include taxes and tariffs. All the developed and economically powerful nations including United States, United Kingdom and the entire Europe have been the strongest advocates of this policy. Continue reading »