International Trade: What are some of the problems import/export companies face?

On November 10, 2016 I published a position paper in Accuracy In Academia with more to follow regarding international trade. You can download the paper for free and review other papers on international transportation

Abstract

International trade is the inseparable companion of transportation and this paper will investigate in separate parts theory, technology, infrastructure, logistics, markets, methodology, commodities, economics, finance, and the public organizations and NGO’s that encompass international commerce.

How cargo is classified not only for valuation of duties and taxation but for the efficient packaging, handling and movement from a point origin to destination as a single cargo units. In addition, this paper will examine international trade data regarding producer- consumer- countries across international such as energy, agriculture, base metals, ores and the exchanges for bulk, semi-manufactured, and manufactured merchandise and commodities were bidding takes place.

Thousands of books and papers have been written over a long span of years about transportation, trade, markets and so on, nonetheless, the intention of this paper is to revisit these same issues with a different lens and apply recent and the innovative approaches by making use of applied fractals for the analysis. The reason for taking this method is that markets behave in chaotic ways with unpredictable economic swings that go beyond the business cycle, so, new tools are needed to explore our challenging times.

Has US transformed it's policies from unilateral to multilateral approach? Would multipolarity be beneficial to the world?

There are two competing theories: One the world is coming together and the other the world is coming apart. Globalization has had the tendency of ameliorating the devastating effects of poverty for millions of people, specifically, in China this same theory is extended to other parts heavily populated with large number of poor people such as India.

What is the difference between import export business and transportation business?

Merchandise trade is a completely different business model than the carriage of merchandise trade. Capital expenditures is probably the most relevant difference as it takes vast amounts of these resources to equip a carrier with a fleet of ships, airplanes, trains or trucks. In addition to this direct capital outlays needed by a transportation company there is an enormous amount of infrastructure required to support the operation of ships, airplanes, trains and trucks that carry freight traded around the globe.

What are export and import regulations?

There are many domestic and international regulations which are included in treaties, unions and conferences regarding trade.

The US Department of Commerce as well as US Customs have many resources about duties, taxes and regulations affecting international and domestic trade.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank also have many resources dealing with international trade regulations and other issues.

What are the differences between bilateral and multilateral trade agreements?

In international trade bilateral means between two nations and multilateral means among several nations. Must trade agreements under the World Organization rules (WTO) are set for multilateral trade as member countries must abide by these trade rules.

Five principles are of particular importance in understanding both the pre-1994 GATT and the WTO: Non-discrimination which has two major components-- the most favored nation (MFN) rule and the national treatment policy-- including: Reciprocity, binding and enforceable commitments, transparency and safety values.

How do you compete with new businesses who are bringing down prices in your industry?

Analyze the cost side of the ledger which are composed of materials cost, labor costs, transportation costs, distribution costs and capital costs. These components are on the manufacturing side but there are also commerce and trade components costs that one needs to explore such as tariffs, duties, taxes and regulations. Any company lowering sale prices must have has found a way to counter costs or found a way to introduce innovation on either marketing, advertising and technology

What is the largest garment exporting country?

There are two parts to this issue as the textile industry is an integral part of the garment industry which depends on cotton production and other fibers for the manufacturing garments. Nevertheless, China continues to be the number one garment manufacturer in the world followed by Bangladesh. The other tier of the industry as a whole, is private branding which dominates manufacturing, distribution overall sales and most of the economic gains derived from this world industry which depends mostly on unskilled labor living in the poorest countries on Earth.