INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
The attainment of balance of trade is always a critical factor in the economic development of many nations. This simply means that continuous trade deficits and surpluses are undesirable. The world has become a global village in which different countries interact with themselves and get involved in business transactions and trade. This kind of trade between countries is known as international trade which involves the exchange of goods and services between nations.
Some countries are more or less deficit nations which mean they import more than they export, while some countries produce more than is absorbed by their domestic economy so they export the surpluses. Either of these actions means that a
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He proposed as an example to suppose that he, a Frenchman, exported French wine and imported British coal, turning a profit. He supposed he was in France, and sent a Cask of wine which was worth 50 francs to England. The custom house would record an export of 50 francs. If in England, the wine sold for 70 francs, which he then used to buy coal, which he imported into France and was found to be worth 90 francs in France, he would have made a profit of 40 francs. But the custom house would say that the value of imports exceeded the value of exports and was trade deficit against the ledger of France. By reductio ad absurdum, Bastiat argued that the national trade deficit was an indicator of a successful economy, rather than a failing one. Bastiat predicted that a successful, growing economy would result in greater trade deficits, and an unsuccessful, shrinking economy would result in lower trade deficits. This was later, in the 20th century, affirmed by economist Milton Friedman.
Trade deficits can be healthy if it is used in importing capital goods that increases output. Small trade deficits are generally not considered to be harmful to either the importing or exporting economy. However, when a national trade imbalance expands beyond prudence (generally thought to be several percentage of GDP, for several years), adjustment tend to occur. While unsustainable imbalances may persist for long periods,
2. The balance of trade is the point where the difference between exports and imports is favorable for the country. When the country imports more than it exports, it results in a trade deficit and when the country exports more than it imports, the country runs into a trade surplus. The balance of trade for a countries economy is a very fine balance. The economic condition can change and a deficit or surplus may be an ideal situation.
The general standard for measuring the overall size of the nation's economic activity is the value of gross domestic product (GDP). One of the components of GDP is a measure of the value of exports and imports of goods and services. The hitch is that GDP includes a large component of non-tradable that does not or cannot enter into international trade flows to any significant degree-for example, most buildings and structures, and personal and government services. Consequently, even though internationally traded items such as financial services and travel and transportation services are included in GDP, when we compare the size of the foreign sector with the size of the domestic economy, we end up comparing apples with apples and pomegranates. As a result, comparing exports or imports of goods and services to GDP may understate the importance of international trade to relevant sectors of the domestic economy
The exchange of goods and services between international borders or territories is known as international trade. It allows countries to use excess resources, if the resource can be produced more efficiently then it can be sold cheaply. If a country lacks access to certain resources they can obtain that resource through the aid of international trade.
balance of trade Balance of trade is a concept that makes a country powerful. The theory of mercantilism states that a country becomes powerful
A larger developed country will have numerous products it produces and exports. A surplus of imports, as one may imagine, can be disastrous.
There can never be any country in the world which can survive on its own without being involved in international trade with other countries. Even the United States a super power can not have an economy which is growing or even raise the wages of our citizens unless we extend our trade beyond our borders and sell products and at the same time buy products from the rest of the population outside our country. We import a lot of goods from other countries. There are instances whereby there can be surplus in the goods that are imported in the United States. For instance the United States is a huge importer of automobiles. A surplus in the imported automobiles can have certain consequences on businesses as well as consumers. This will lead to a price drop of the automobiles. This is good news to the consumers as they will purchase them at lower prices. On the other hand this is bad news to the businesses since the price drop will make them incur a lot of losses.
Trade is how goods or services are exchanged between countries. An exchange is broken down into two categories: imports and exports. Imports are goods and services coming into a country; whereas, goods and services flowing out of a country are exports. When different countries trade with each other, they develop a trade deficit, a trade surplus, or a trade balance. A trade deficit is when the value of imports exceeds the value of exports, and a trade surplus is when the value of exports exceeds the value of imports. A trade balance is when imports and exports are traded at equal rates/amounts.
Exports and imports are what encompass international trade balance. When there are more exports over imports a trade surplus happens and when there are more imports over exports a trade deficit happens. A country will acquire large quantities of foreign assets when it runs in a trade surplus so it can lend internationally to other countries. A country sells of its assets to other countries and becomes a big debtor nation when it runs on a trade deficit. A
Economist have been debating between free trade and protectionism for decades. This debate has been most recently reiterated through President Donald Trump’s announcement that his administration would be taking steps to limit free trade in the United States. The opinion piece “Beware the Trump Trade Trap” by Liz Mair, argues that free trade is positively linked to a country’s prosperity, although most of the population may disagree with this. Mair argues that protectionism would limit consumption, however, it is important to also expand upon these ideas and to remember that free trade encourages prosperity, comparative advantage, and improves economic growth.
The vast majority (about three fourths) of our trade deficit in manufactured goods is caused by imbalanced trade flows with Asia, as shown in Figure 2. The deficits with Asia are large and rapidly growing, despite very high rates of growth in the region until 1997. Europe and NAFTA were each responsible for about 13% of the deficit in 1998. The U.S. ran a small surplus with the other countries in the Western Hemisphere, and with the rest of the world, in this period. http://www.epi.org/content.cfm/webfeatures_viewpoints_tradetestimony
Those economically disadvantaged (poor) within a country generally gain from a loose trade. A loose trade is generally a strong positive contributor to poverty reduction. This allows people to exploit their productive potential, assists economic growth, restrains illogical policy interventions and helps to insulate against shocks. This corresponds with a new World Bank study which, used data from 80 countries over four decades, confirmed that openness boosts economic growth and that the incomes of the poor rose one-for-one with overall growth.
Some of the countries with surplus commodities may dumb them on international markets at a low price. Under such conditions, some of the efficient industries can might find difficulties in competing for long period. Furthermore, countries whose economies are mostly rural will face unfavourable terms of trade. For example, ration of export prices to import prices. Which means that their export income is more smaller than their import payments the make for high value added imports, as it leads to subsequently large foreign debt levels.
International trade has been in existence throughout history and has an economic impact on the participating countries. Trade in most countries has a share of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and helps to boost the
International trade deficits occur when a nation imports more then it exports. The Decline of Smokestack America is when there is a change from an industrial to a post-industrial economy. Finally, the conservation of energy is so that there are a sufficient amount of natural resources necessary to produce goods. General economic growth or stagnation also has an important influence on business within our society. Many factors can affect it's condition, such as war, new inventions and technology, political assassinations, the discovery of physical and natural resources, labor negotiations, government action, and many others. When the economy is strong and the demand is high, businesses can prosper. Regardless of how great the economy may become, businesses still must compete with other firms for scarce raw materials and labor.
To comprehend the potential and actual effects of governmental intervention on the free flow of trade