The economy today is global, and you must be part of the global economy in order for your business to prosper. Many people believe that entering the international marketplace is incredibly difficult, and for this reason they never ask the right questions or take the necessary action to position their business for international trade. All you need to get started exporting or importing is to know your business and to become acquainted with some simple terms and procedures. As an exporter you make a product, sell it overseas, make a shipment and get paid for it. Perhaps you act as a middleman, buying a product that is manufactured by someone else and reselling it at a profit to an overseas customer. As an importer you would locate a product overseas and import it for sale domestically, acting either as a wholesale distributor or a direct seller to end users through a retail business.
Whether you are an importer or exporter, you may or may not need to worry about fluctuations in the exchange rates of foreign currencies, depending upon which currency you use to conduct business.
This General Trade tip is brought to you courtest of trade leads from the Clothing and Accessories section of our Business to Business Marketplace.
If you are exporting, you do not have to worry about the vagaries of foreign tax or employment laws because you are not setting up a factory there. In most cases you will not have to worry about foreign sales taxes because the wholesale customer that you will be dealing with will likely be the party responsible for taking care of it (retailers downstream of the wholesaler may ultimately be the parties responsible for collecting sales taxes - as is the case in the United States).
