Sense and structure of international trade. Its members

The system of international trade regulation

Pricing for commodity markets.

Sense and structure of international trade. Its members.

TOPIC 2. INTERNATIONAL TRADE

International trade is the oldest form of international economic relations, reflecting the internationalization in the sphere of exchange, and still remains the most developed sector of the world economy, covering over 80% of all international business transactions.

In the broad sense of international trade represents any interstate activities in exchange of goods, services and other results of human labour or elements of nature and serves the material basis of world commodity market.

Regarding the relationship of international trade with other forms of IER, it appears that: firstly, because it realizes the results of all forms of economic relations - export of capital, industrial cooperation, scientific and technical cooperation and others. Secondly, the development of international trade in goods determines the dynamics of the international exchange services. Thirdly, growth and deepening of interregional and international relationships are important preconditions for international economic integration. Fourth, international trade contributes to the further deepening of the international division of labour and the internationalization of economic relations.

An important component of the concept of "international trade" is the foreign trade, which reflects the export-import activities of a given country with the rest of the world.

To assess the scope, structure, dynamics and efficiency of international and foreign trade there is a system of quantitative and qualitative indicators, among which the most important are: export, import and foreign trade turnover; general and special trade; export, import and foreign trade quotas; commodity, geographical and institutional structure of trade and others.

Classification of international trade:

1. According to the object: trade in goods and services;

2. According to the interaction of subjects: traditional trade, trade of cooperative and specialized products, countertrade;

3. According to the regulation: ordinary trade, discriminatory trade, preferential trade.

When considering the types of international trade, countertrade requires particular attention. Its main aspects are:

• Financial when the importing country doesn’t have a freely convertible currency, or is unwilling to use it;

• Marketing when compensatory operations serve as a way to enter the international market, especially highly competitive;

• Technological - as access to new technologies.

The main types of countertrade are: barter, counter purchase, compensational agreements (Table 2.1.).

Table 2.1.

Types of international countertrade

1. Barter transactions and compensational agreements without currency basis	1.1. Agreements with single delivery 1.2. Agreements with long deadlines
2. Compensational agreements on commercial basis	2.1. Short-term compensational agreements 2.2. Counter purchases 2.3. Long-term advance purchases
3. Compensational agreements based on agreements on industrial cooperation	3.1. Large-scale long-term compensational agreements with reciprocal purchases of goods 3.2. "Production Sharing Agreements" 3.3. Agreements "development-import"
4. Clearing

In the international trade practice two main methods are used: direct sales and sales through intermediaries. For the first method, its advantages include: no fees for services of the broker, acceleration of trade and reduction of transaction costs. However, a precondition for successful trade is thorough knowledge of the partner, presence of commercial skills and experience in trading activities.

When trading through intermediaries the efficiency of marketing greatly increases, the circulation of capital accelerates, as intermediaries are better informed of market conditions, with special professional training and developed network of infrastructural services.

Among the many mediators now present at the world commodity markets, the growing role belongs to institutional intermediaries: international exchanges, auctions, fairs and exhibition, tenders. If the activity of individual intermediaries (agents, brokers, distributors, etc.) is transparent and understandable, the mechanisms of the relationship between the subjects of trade agreement, mediated by institutional agents, are much more complex.

One of the oldest and also the largest institutions in terms of trading operations is international commodity exchange. Its main functions are:

- Maintenance of a particular segment of the global commodity market;

- Involvement in the stock transactions of contractors from around the world;

- Ensuring the free transfer of profits, obtained by contractors;

- Implementation of the so-called arbitrage, i.e. speculative operations to gain profit from differences in price quotation on the commodity exchanges in different countries, and others.

One of the characteristic features of the international commodity exchange is the type of transactions concluded during the exchange operations. Depending on the mechanisms of the transactions they are divided into 2 groups: agreement on the real product (or immediate delivery), in which the goods are delivered immediately at prices prevailing at the time of the agreement, and agreements for certain term (forwards, futures, options, swaps), when supply of goods takes place in the future at a price determinable by the parties at the time of the transaction. Depending on the purpose of transactions at the commodity exchange are divided into speculative transactions and insurance transactions (hedging)

Дата добавления: 2014-01-04