trade: Definition, Synonyms and Much More from Answers.com

One of the reasons for trade is specialization of production. Some examples are obvious. European countries are not very successful in growing bananas. Similarly, the distribution of natural resources like coal, iron ore, and oil has always been unequal. Thus each country specializes in producing those commodities in which it has a comparative advantage. Specialization allows economies of scale because it is more efficient to produce for a large world market than for a much smaller national market. The commodities imported rather than produced at home will always require less productive inputs than would be required under home production. Trade is thus an unqualified benefit to all parties, irrespective of whether trade is fair or a country is competitive.

But the fact that trade is universally advantageous does not mean that the benefits are equally distributed. The impact of imperial free trade policies on 19th-cent. India boosted the export of raw cotton to Britain but had a devastating impact on Indian cotton manufactures. Variations in natural resources, in which some countries are rich (Russia) and some are relatively very poor (Japan), and in technology, barriers to trade, and historical experience of development have maintained and augmented these differences.

There is little doubt that international trade and specialized production played a major part in the growth of the industrial economies in the 18th and especially the 19th cent. But the less developed countries have argued that trade has not been beneficial for them since they have been peripheral to those with greater comparative advantage. Indeed it has become a radical criticism of the free market system that it prospered through the exploitation of the less developed countries by the industrial nations. Hence the support for import substitution policies and attempts to persuade the developed world to help by allowing trade on terms favourable to the less developed.

The geographical position of the Middle East has made the region part of far-flung trade networks, as both market and supplier, since antiquity.

The Middle East is the cradle of civilization, the place where agriculture and urban life are thought to have originated. The region was economically vibrant and a center of trade in early antiquity, and it connected far-flung markets across the Eastern Hemisphere during Roman times. The collapse of the Roman Empire fragmented governing institutions in northwestern Europe, dividing its markets from the rest of the world. The rise of Islam during the seventh century C.E. and its subsequent diffusion spread Arabic and a common legal system (shariʿa) across the southern Mediterranean and as far east as what now is Indonesia. Trade was rein-vigorated and, following the Mongol conquest and consolidation in east and west Asia, overland trade between the Middle East and China along the Silk Road also thrived.

Trade before the Modern Period

Before the modern period, the Middle East exported mainly high-quality manufactured products to Europe and Africa, with which it generally enjoyed a trade surplus. Raw materials and manufactured products went to Asia but, like others trading with this region, Middle Eastern merchants often ran deficits with their east Asian partners.

The area around the Indian Ocean was a main market and supplier of goods to the Middle East. Pepper and spices came from the East Indies and were re-exported as well as consumed locally. Teak for ship construction and other tropical woods were imported from India; porcelain and silk came from China. After silkworms were smuggled out of China during the sixth century C.E., the Middle East also became a producer and exporter of silk cloth. Arab and Iranian shipping dominated the Indian Ocean as far as the Straits of Malacca, where Chinese junks took over, sailing to Guangzhou (Canton) and other Chinese ports to sell carpets, linens, cotton and wool fabrics, metalwork, iron ore, pearls, and ivory.

Overland trade with the Baltic region went via the Volga and other Russian rivers. Along these routes, Middle Eastern traders exchanged manufactured goods for furs, wax, amber, and slaves. The ancient sea trade with East Africa expanded greatly with the spread of Islam and with the establishment of branches of family trading concerns by Arabs and Iranians down the East African coast. Middle Eastern traders exchanged cloth, glassware, weapons, and trinkets for Africa's wood, ivory, palm oil, and gold. Slaves were sent from Africa to the Middle East in large numbers, most remaining in the countries bordering the Red Sea and Persian Gulf, but some going as far as India and China. The trans-Sahara trade blossomed following the introduction of caravans between Egypt, North African ports, and tropical Africa, exchanging African gold, ivory, pepper, and slaves for salt, weapons, copper, textiles, glass-ware, and trinkets.

Trade with Europe eventually would come to dominate Middle Eastern exchange relations, but Europe's lagging development following the sack of Rome confined most European exports to the Middle East to raw materials such as wood, iron, furs, and slaves. In exchange, Europeans received the high-quality manufactures for which the Middle East had long been famous: glassware, metal goods, and fabrics. As corruption eroded Egypt's competitive position during the fourteenth century, manufactures brought by Venetian traders began to displace local products. During the first half of the sixteenth century, Portugal invaded and took control of the Indian Ocean trade, constructing fortifications in ports like Bahrain and charging protection rents to merchants for allowing their goods to pass. The Dutch then displaced the Portuguese from much of their empire, and Portuguese interference with
local shipping waned. Shipbuilding thrived in the Persian Gulf during the eighteenth century, and merchant families grew rich from pearling and long-distance trade. Gulf-based merchants carried a wide variety of goods - including live horses - east to South Asia and west to the African coast. Their predominance in their own region was challenged and gradually eroded during the nineteenth century. In mid-century, competition from British steam-powered ships began taking business from Arab shippers who relied on wind-powered dhows and boums. Near the end of the century, the British navy established protectorates over the smaller emi-rates near the mouth of the Gulf and soon dominated that sea.

During the nineteenth century, the terms of trade between the Middle East and Europe gradually shifted as Europeans penetrated Middle Eastern markets and pressed governments for changes favoring imports over articles produced locally. High value-added products (i.e., manufactured or processed goods rather than raw materials) increasingly came from Europe rather than being produced at home. For example, Morocco had been famous for its refined sugar, but its Middle Eastern markets were overtaken by sugar from southern Europe and by sugar from the New World that had been refined in Europe. A similar displacement occurred later with respect to coffee. Manufactured goods were similarly displaced as fine silk and woolen fabrics, high-quality paper, and glass, which formerly had gone from the Middle East to Europe, began to flow from Europe to the Middle East. New European products, such as clocks, spectacles, and weapons, entered Middle Eastern markets without local competition. Although yarn exports to Europe continued until the end of the eighteenth century, it was clear by the time of the industrial revolution that the Middle East was becoming a peripheral actor in world trade, exporting mostly primary products and importing mostly manufactured and processed goods from the industrializing European core.

Shifting trade patterns accelerated during the nineteenth-century era of globalization, which ended with World War I. Total world trade rose from some $1.7 billion in 1800 to $42 billion in 1913. During this period, the share of world trade going to the Middle East was halved, falling from about 3 percent in 1800 to 1.5 percent in 1913. The slope of the upsurge in trade reflected European investment in steamships and railroads, and what economists like John Gallagher and Ronald Robinson called "the imperialism of free trade": in the name of open markets, Britain forced weaker trading partners to abolish monopolies and local trade regulations and to adopt low uniform tariffs on imports. Referred to as capitulations, these institutional changes ensured that the market effects of competition from an industrializing Europe on artisan production in the Middle East (and elsewhere) would not be moderated by the state. This virtually guaranteed that the region would be incorporated into the global trading system as a dependent exporter of raw materials: tobacco, dried fruits, and cotton from Turkey; silk and opium from Iran; wheat, barley, and dates from Syria and Iraq; silk from Lebanon; oranges from Palestine; and coffee beans from Yemen.

Foreign investment and loans were key elements changing the terms of trade and fostering trade dependency. Egyptian overinvestment in cotton production during the U.S. Civil War displaced local food production and, when cotton prices collapsed, increased Egypt's foreign debt. The protection of foreign creditors served as a justification for imposing on the Egyptian government a joint British-French commission in 1876. Britain used this
opportunity to take control of the Suez Canal and, in 1882, of Egypt itself. Trade deficits combined with heavy foreign borrowing caused the Ottoman Empire to declare bankruptcy in 1875 and, six years later, led to the establishment of the Ottoman Debt Commission. This essentially parallel ministry of finance represented the interests of the Ottoman Empire's creditors, and imposed an early version of conditionality (i.e., the surrender of control over fiscal policy to an agent of foreign creditors) to ensure that they would be repaid.

The Modern Period

The discovery of oil in Iran at the turn of the twentieth century confirmed the position of the Middle East as a supplier of raw materials, defining its position in world trade for the next century. Competition between France and Britain for control of Iraqi oil influenced the way the defeated Ottoman Empire was divided into mandates governed by these two victors after World War I. During the interwar period, oil was found in Bahrain, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia, while the Iraqi oil industry became the balance wheel regulating the development of production capacity in the region via the Red Line Agreement of 1928. During World War II, trade volume declined regionally and globally owing to blockades, dangers to shipping, and shut-in oil production. Afterward, the production and sale of petroleum came to dominate interregional trade. Starting in 1960, the Organization of Petroleum

Exporting Countries (OPEC) struggled to reverse the unfavorable terms of trade that had beset its Middle Eastern members since the nineteenth century by halting and then reversing the incipient decline in real oil prices that threatened to erode oil-exporter income.

Oil exports altered economic positions intra-regionally. Until 1948, Egypt and Turkey accounted for the majority of Middle Eastern trade. After that, the oil-producing countries captured an enormous proportion of total regional trade, especially exports. Attempts to foster intraregional trade through common markets and regional organizations such as the Gulf Cooperation Council mostly foundered on the shoals of economies deformed by dependent development - that is, development strategies emphasizing oil and gas production rather than goods and services aimed primarily at domestic and regional markets. Local industrial development also was affected by what is sometimes called "Dutch disease" (because the same situation affected Holland during the heyday of its exploitation of the riches of the East Indies), oil export - induced monetary inflation that decreased the competitiveness of local goods as compared to imports. Dutch disease makes domestic production uncompetitive, even at home, further discouraging economic diversification.

The Arab League trade boycott, imposed against Israel after its creation in 1948 and still in effect in a number of Arab countries, was another factor retarding the development of local industries in Arab countries; it also deprived Israeli farms and factories of a nearby market for their products and increased Israel's already massive dependence on foreign assistance. Together, these outcomes increased the power of government over civil society, both in Israel and in the Arab states, by diminishing the capacity of domestic business interests to exercise checks on the state. The boycott also aggravated a conflict that all the region's governments used to their advantage to discourage if not repress domestic dissent.

Middle Eastern trade oscillates in response to political crises and wars, many connected to the Arab - Israeli conflict. In general, crises tend to depress Middle Eastern oil exports, either through oil embargoes or as a result of war-induced oil price increases. For example, the global position of Arab oil exporters was gravely damaged by consumer efforts to find other sources of hydrocarbon imports following the 1973 Arab-Israel war and the Arab oil embargo, which enabled OPEC to raise crude oil prices to what then were unheard-of levels. Ten years later, the volume of oil exports from OPEC countries was half what it had been in 1973. (Oil income did not fall in proportion because of further oil price increases during that period.) Other conflicts, such as the revolution in Iran and the subsequent U.S. trade sanctions against it, and the three Gulf Wars in which Iraq was a major belligerent (1980 - 1988; 1990 - 1991; and 2003), also affected regional trade. The first Gulf War, between Iran and Iraq, was fought in part with oil exports. Iraqi exports were occasionally halted by Iranian attacks but Iraq continued to receive oil income from Saudi and Kuwaiti sales of oil from the former Neutral Zone. Meanwhile, Iran suffered under U.S. trade sanctions, which depressed its export income.

As regards the balance of trade overall, oil-exporting-country revenues usually have exceeded the cost of imported goods and services. Non-oil exporters, such as Egypt, Israel, Syria, Jordan, Yemen, and Turkey, ran trade deficits, some incurred to pay for oil imports. The deficits were covered by foreign aid and loans, leading to large foreign debts. These macro-level effects mask significant changes in non-oil-exporting economies. For most, the composition of exports has changed. Traditional raw-material exports like cotton and grain have declined owing to greater processing and consumption at home. A growing export trade in manufactured goods, such as high-tech equipment and finished textiles, is bringing new trade income to Israel, Turkey, Egypt, Syria, and Lebanon. On the import side, rising incomes from oil exports have trickled down to non-oil-exporting neighbors via labor migration and, prior to the collapse in oil prices in 1986, through intraregional foreign aid. This allowed imports of foodstuffs, durable consumer goods, industrial and transport machinery, and raw materials to rise.

The most disturbing component of Middle Eastern trade is armaments. Higher oil prices in the 1970s were offset by the aggressive marketing of weapons to Middle Eastern Muslim countries. The motives of arms buyers were diverse. Some, such as Iran, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia, sought arms from external patrons as a way to assert their political and religious authority in the region. Others felt themselves to be at a disadvantage as compared to their neighbors, especially Israel, with its virtually First World military industries and its ability to acquire weapons and advanced military technologies, mostly free, from the United States. The overall decline in the world economy following the 1973 Arab-Israeli war made trade-surplus oil exporters attractive targets of marketing efforts by arms exporters from throughout the world. Britain, France, China, and Russia joined the United States in building arms export markets in the Middle East. Beginning in the 1980s, when U.S. policy shifted toward greater marketization of supporting strategic industries by encouraging them to market weapons abroad, then expanding during the 1990s, following the collapse of the Soviet Union, even materials for so-called weapons of mass destruction became widely available for import into the Middle East and elsewhere.

Bibliography

Gallagher, John, and Robinson, Ronald. "The Imperialism of Free Trade." Economic History Review, 2d series, no. 6 (1953): 1 - 15.

Issawi, Charles. An Economic History of the Middle East and NorthAfrica. New York: Columbia University Press, 1982.

Nitzan, Jonathan, and Bichler, Shimshon. The Global Political Economy of Israel. Sterling, VA; London: Pluto Press, 2002.

Schwartz, Herman M. States Versus Markets: The Emergence of aGlobal Economy. 2d edition. New York and Basingstoke, U.K.: Palgrave, 2000.

— CHARLES ISSAWI
UPDATED BY MARY ANN TÉTREAULT

A fruit stand at a market.

Trade is the voluntary exchange of goods, services, or both. Trade is also called commerce. A mechanism that allows trade is called a market. The original form of trade was barter, the direct exchange of goods and services. Modern traders instead generally negotiate through a medium of exchange, such as money. As a result, buying can be separated from selling, or earning. The invention of money (and later credit, paper money and non-physical money) greatly simplified and promoted trade. Trade between two traders is called bilateral trade, while trade between more than two traders is called multilateral trade.

Trade exists for many reasons. Due to specialisation and division of labor, most people concentrate on a small aspect of production, trading for other products. Trade exists between regions because different regions have a comparative advantage in the production of some tradable commodity, or because different regions' size allows for the benefits of mass production. As such, trade at market prices between locations benefits both locations.

Trading can also refer to the action performed by traders and other market agents in the financial markets.

History of trade

Trade originated with the start of communication in prehistoric times. Trading was the main facility of prehistoric people, who bartered goods and services from each other when there was no such thing as the modern day currency. Peter Watson dates the history of long-distance commerce from circa 150,000 years ago.^[1]

Trade is believed to have taken place throughout much of recorded human history. There is evidence of the exchange of obsidian and flint during the stone age. Materials used for creating jewelry were traded with Egypt since 3000 BC. Long-range trade routes first appeared in the 3rd millennium BC, when Sumerians in Mesopotamia traded with the Harappan civilization of the Indus Valley. The Phoenicians were noted sea traders, travelling across the Mediterranean Sea, and as far north as Britain for sources of tin to manufacture bronze. For this purpose they established trade colonies the Greeks called emporia. From the beginning of Greek civilization until the fall of the Roman empire in the 5th century, a financially lucrative trade brought valuable spice to Europe from the far east, including China. Roman commerce allowed their empire to flourish and endure. Their widespread empire produced a stable and secure transportation network that enabled the shipment of trade goods without fear of significant piracy.

The fall of the Roman empire, and the succeeding Dark Ages brought instability to Western Europe and a near collapse of the trade network. Nevertheless some trade did occur. For instance, Radhanites were a medieval guild or group (the precise meaning of the word is lost to history) of Jewish merchants who traded between the Christians in Europe and the Muslims of the Near East.

The Sogdians dominated the East-West trade route known as the Silk Road after the 4th century AD up to the 8th century AD, with Suyab and Talas ranking among their main centeres in the north. They were the main caravan merchants of Central Asia.

From the 8th to the 11th century, the Vikings and Varangians traded as they sailed from and to Scandinavia. Vikings sailed to Western Europe, while Varangians to Russia. The Hanseatic League was an alliance of trading cities that maintained a trade monopoly over most of Northern Europe and the Baltic, between the 13th and 17th centuries.

The tales of Marco Polo's travels to the far east sparked an interest in the spice trade.

Vasco da Gama restarted the European Spice trade in 1498. Prior to his sailing around Africa, the flow of spice into Europe was controlled by Islamic powers, especially Egypt. The spice trade was of major economic importance and helped spur the Age of Exploration. Spices brought to Europe from distant lands were some of the most valuable commodities for their weight, sometimes rivaling gold.

In the 16th century, Holland was the centre of free trade, imposing no exchange controls, and advocating the free movement of goods.

Trade in the East Indies was dominated by Portugal in the 16th century, the Netherlands in the 17th century, and the British in the 18th century.

In 1776, Adam Smith published the paper An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. It criticised Mercantilism, and argued that economic specialisation could benefit nations just as much as firms. Since the division of labour was restricted by the size of the market, he said that countries having access to larger markets would be able to divide labour more efficiently and thereby become more productive. Smith said that he considered all rationalisations of import and export controls "dupery", which hurt the trading nation at the expense of specific industries.

In 1799, the Dutch East India Company, formerly the world's largest company, became bankrupt, partly due to the rise of competitive free trade.

In 1817, David Ricardo, James Mill and Robert Torrens showed that free trade might benefit the industrially weak as well as the strong, in the famous theory of comparative advantage. In Principles of Political Economy and Taxation Ricardo advanced the doctrine still considered the most counterintuitive in economics:

When an inefficient producer sends the merchandise it produces best to a country able to produce it more efficiently, both countries benefit.

The ascendancy of free trade was primarily based on national advantage in the mid 19th century. That is, the calculation made was whether it was in any particular country's self-interest to open its borders to imports.

John Stuart Mill proved that a country with monopoly pricing power on the international market could manipulate the terms of trade through maintaining tariffs, and that the response to this might be reciprocity in trade policy. Ricardo and others had suggested this earlier. This was taken as evidence against the universal doctrine of free trade, as it was believed that more of the economic surplus of trade would accrue to a country following reciprocal, rather than completely free, trade policies.

This was followed within a few years by the infant industry scenario developed by Mill anticipated New Trade Theory by promoting the theory that government had the "duty" to protect young industries, although only for a time necessary for them to develop full capacity. This became the policy in many countries attempting to industrialise and out-compete English exporters.

The Great Depression was a major economic recession that ran from 1929 to the late 1930s. During this period, there was a great drop in trade and other economic indicators.

The lack of free trade was considered by many as a principal cause of the depression. Only during the World War II the recession ended in United States. Also during the war, in 1944, 44 countries signed the Bretton Woods Agreement, intended to prevent national trade barriers, to avoid depressions. It set up rules and institutions to regulate the international political economy: the International Monetary Fund and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (later divided into the World Bank and Bank for International Settlements). These organisations became operational in 1946 after enough countries ratified the agreement. In 1947, 23 countries agreed to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade to promote free trade.

Free trade advanced further in the late 20th century and early 2000s:

• 1992 European Union lifted barriers to internal trade in goods and labour.
• January 11994 NAFTA took effect
• 1994 The GATT Marrakech Agreement specified formation of the WTO.
• January 11995 World Trade Organization was created to facilitate free trade, by mandating mutual most favoured nation trading status between all signatories.
• EC was transformed into the European Union, which accomplished the Economic and Monnetary Union (EMU) in 2002, through introducing the Euro , and creating this way a real single market between 13 member states as of January 1, 2007.
• 2005, the Central American Free Trade Agreement was signed; It includes the United States and the Dominican Republic.

Development of money

Main article: History of money

The first instances of money were objects with intrinsic value. This is called commodity money and includes any commonly-available commodity that has intrinsic value; historical examples include pigs, rare seashells, whale's teeth, and (often) cattle. In medieval Iraq, bread was used as an early form of money. In Mexico under Montezuma cocoa beans were money. [1]

Currency was introduced as a standardised money to facilitate a wider exchange of goods and services. This first stage of currency, where metals were used to represent stored value, and symbols to represent commodities, formed the basis of trade in the Fertile Crescent for over 1500 years.

Numismatists have examples of coins from the earliest large-scale societies, although these were initially unmarked lumps of precious metal.^[2]

Ancient Sparta minted coins from iron to discourage its citizens from engaging in foreign trade.

The system of commodity money in many instances evolved into a system of representative money. In this system, the material that constitutes the money itself had very little intrinsic value, but none the less such money achieves significant market value through scarcity or controlled supply.

See also

• Silent trade

Saran Seker

• Roman commerce
• The Silk Route, Amber Road and other trade routes
• slave trade, fur trade, cod trade
• The rise of banking
• History of international trade
• Merchant adventurers and trading companies: British East India Company, Muscovy Company, Virginia Company, Hudson's Bay Company and others
• Mercantilism
• Industrial Revolution, Second Industrial Revolution
• Capitalism
• Innovations in transport
• Colonialism and neo-colonialism
• Commodities, goods and intellectual property
• E-commerce
• Globalisation
• Categories
  • Category:Currency

Current trends

Doha rounds

The Doha round of World Trade Organization negotiations aims to lower barriers to trade around the world, with a focus on making trade fairer for developing countries. Talks have been hung over a divide between the rich, developed countries, and the major developing countries (represented by the G20). Agricultural subsidies are the most significant issue upon which agreement has been hardest to negotiate. By contrast, there was much agreement on trade facilitation and capacity building.

The Doha round began in Doha, Qatar, and negotiations have subsequently continued in: Cancún, Mexico; Geneva, Switzerland; and Paris, France and Hong Kong.

China

Beginning around 1978, the government of the People's Republic of China (PRC) began an experiment in economic reform. Previously the Communist nation had employed the Soviet-style centrally planned economy, with limited results. They would now utilise a more market-oriented economy, particularly in the so-called Special Economic Zones located in the Guangdong, Fujian, and Hainan. This reform has been spectacularly successful. By 2004, the GDP of the nation has quadrupled since 1978 and foreign trade exceeded $1 trillion US. As of 2005, China had become the 3rd largest exporter behind Germany and the United States. This occurred in spite of the backlash from the shootings following Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. The PRC maintains a $29 billion trade surplus, and is rapidly becoming a leader in industrial manufacturing.

In 1991 the PRC joined the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation group, a free-trade organisation. More recently, in 2001 they also joined the World Trade Organization.

See also: Economy of the People's Republic of China

International trade

Main article: International trade

Trade Series
International trade
History of international trade
Free trade
Protectionism
Trade pact
Trade bloc Preferential trading area
Free trade area
Customs union Trade creation Trade diversion
Monetary union
Common market
Economic and monetary union

International trade is the exchange of goods and services across national borders. In most countries, it represents a significant part of GDP. While international trade has been present throughout much of history (see Silk Road, Amber Road), its economic, social, and political importance have increased in recent centuries, mainly because of Industrialisation, advanced transportation, globalisation, multinational corporations, and outsourcing. In fact, it is probably the increasing prevalence of international trade that is usually meant by the term "globalisation".

Empirical evidence for the success of trade can be seen in the contrast between countries such as South Korea, which adopted a policy of export-oriented industrialisation, and India, which historically had a more closed policy (although it has begun to open its economy, as of 2005). South Korea has done much better by economic criteria than India over the past fifty years, though its success also has to do with effective state institutions.

Trade sanctions against a specific country are sometimes imposed, in order to punish that country for some action. An embargo, a severe form of externally imposed isolation, is a blockade of all trade by one country on another. For example, the United States has had an embargo against Cuba for over 40 years.

Although there are usually few trade restrictions within countries, international trade is usually regulated by governmental quotas and restrictions, and often taxed by tariffs. Tariffs are usually on imports, but sometimes countries may impose export tariffs or subsidies. All of these are called trade barriers. If a government removes all trade barriers, a condition of free trade exists. A government that implements a protectionist policy establishes trade barriers.

The fair trade movement, also known as the trade justice movement, promotes the use of labour, environmental and social standards for the production of commodities, particularly those exported from the Third and Second Worlds to the First World.

Leading IMPORTERS in world trade in merchandise, data from WTO, 2005
Rank	Country	Value bn US$	Share %	annual % change
1	United States	1,732.4	16.1	14
2	Germany	773.8	7.2	8
3	China	660.0	6.1	18
4	Japan	514.9	4.8	13
5	United Kingdom	510.2	4.7	8
6	France	497.9	4.6	6
7	Italy	379.8	3.5	7
8	Netherlands	359.1	3.3	12
9	Canada	319.7	3.0	15
10	Belgium	318.7	3.0	12

Leading EXPORTERS in world trade in merchandise, data from WTO, 2005
Rank	Country	Value bn US$	Share %	annual % change
1	Germany	969.9	9.3	7
2	United States	904.4	8.7	10
3	China	762.0	7.3	28
4	Japan	594.9	5.7	5
5	France	460.2	4.4	2
6	Netherlands	402.4	3.9	13
7	United Kingdom	382.8	3.7	10
8	Italy	367.2	3.5	4
9	Canada	359.4	3.4	14
10	Belgium	334.3	3.2	9

Standards may be voluntarily adhered to by importing firms, or enforced by governments through a combination of employment and commercial law. Proposed and practiced fair trade policies vary widely, ranging from the commonly adhered to prohibition of goods made using slave labour to minimum price support schemes such as those for coffee in the 1980s. Non-governmental organizations also play a role in promoting fair trade standards by serving as independent monitors of compliance with fairtrade labelling requirements.

Organization of trade

Patterns of organizing and administering trade include:

• State control - trade centrally controlled by government planning.
  • Laws regulating Trade and establishing a framework such as trade law, tariffs, support for intellectual property, opposition to dumping.
• Guild control - trade controlled by private business associations holding either de facto or government-granted power to exclude new entrants.
  • In contemporary times, the language has evolved to business and professional organisations, often controlled by academia. For example in many states, a person may not practice the professions of engineering, law, law enforcement, medicine, and teaching unless they have a college degree and, in some cases, a license.
• Free enterprise - trade without significant central controls; market participants engage in trade based on their own individual assessments of risk and reward, and may enter or exit a given market relatively unimpeded.
• Infrastructure in support of trade, such as banking, stock market,
• Technology in support of trade such as electronic commerce, vending machines.

International organizations

• European Common Market
• GATT = General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
• G8
• IMF = International Monetary Fund
• OPEC = Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries

Free trade areas

• Free trade organizations or free trade areas
  • European Free Trade Association
  • Free Trade Area of the Americas
  • NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement)
  • Union of South American Nations

United Nations umbrella

• UNCTAD = United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
• WTO = World Trade Organization
• ITC = International Trade Centre

Types of trade

• Commodities
• Staples
• Luxuries
• Slave trade
• International trade
• Arms trade
• Wholesaling
• Retailer
• Stock exchange
• Fair Trade

Support for trade

• Infrastructure
  • computers and Internet
    • e-commerce
      • Search engine
  • Critical infrastructure
    • Accounting
    • Banking
  • Insurance
  • Public services
    • Police protection
    • Postal service
  • Public utilities
    • Telephone
      • Fax
      • Telephone directory
  • Translation
  • Transport
    • Highways
    • Railroads
    • Ship transport

See also

• Common market
• List of international trade topics
• Natural economy
• Offshore outsourcing
• Offshoring
• Public exchange
• Trade barrier
• Trade facilitation
• Trade route
• Trade statistics
• Trade war
• Trading blows

International trade
Definitions	Balance of payments · Current account (Balance of trade) · Capital account · Foreign exchange reserves · Sovereign wealth funds · Net Capital Outflow · Comparative advantage · Absolute advantage · Import substitution · International trade
Organizations and policies	World Trade Organization · International Monetary Fund · World Bank Group · International Trade Centre · Trade bloc · Free trade zone · Trade barrier · Import quota · Tariff
Schools of thought	Free trade · Balanced trade · Mercantilism · Protectionism
Related issues	Globalization · Outsourcing · Trade justice · Fair trade

Notes

1. ^ Watson, Peter (2005). Ideas : A History of Thought and Invention from Fire to Freud. HarperCollins. ISBN 0-06-621064-X.  Introduction.
2. ^ Gold was an especially common form of early money, as described in Origins of Money and of Banking Davies, Glyn (2002). Ideas : A history of money from ancient times to the present day. University of Wales Press. ISBN 0-7083-1717-0. 

References

• Weisbrot, Mark (2005). Trade - What Are the Gains and Who Gets Them, Center for Economic and Policy Research Economics Seminar Series.
• Working Paper Vienna University of Business and Economics: Trade and Productivity
• The Food Revolution

External links

• Trade-Related Issues
• Trade Directory
• Trade Boards at the Open Directory Project
• National Association of Trade Exchanges

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

Dansk (Danish)
n. - levevej, erhverv, næringsvej, branche, bestilling, profession
v. intr. - drive forretning
v. tr. - bytte, handle, udveksle

idioms:

• be in trade    være etableret i forretning
• trade alliance    handelsalliance
• trade cycle    konjunkturcyklus
• trade fair    handelsmesse, udstilling
• trade gap    underskud på handelsbalancen
• trade in    vare, der tages som delvis betaling
• trade journal    erhvervstidskrift
• trade name    varemærke, firmanavn
• trade off    afvejning, byttehandel
• trade on    tjene på
• trade price    engrospris
• trade school    handelsskole
• trade secret    erhvervshemmelighed
• trade union    fagforening
• trade wind    passatvind
• trades union    fagforening

Nederlands (Dutch)
handel, bedrijfstak, ambacht, vakkring, handel drijven, ruilen, klant zijn, handels-

Français (French)
n. - commerce, industrie, métier, profession, échange, troc, (Météo) alizé, prostitué (homme) (vulg)
v. intr. - (Comm) faire du commerce, (Fin) s'échanger, exploiter, se servir de
v. tr. - échanger (contre), échanger (insultes)
adj. - commercial, économique, professionnel

idioms:

• in trade    être dans le commerce
• trade cycle    cycle économique
• trade down    reprendre (qch de valeur contre qch ayant moins de valeur)
• trade fair    (Comm) salon
• trade gap    (Écon) déficit commercial
• trade in    (Comm) reprendre
• trade journal    journal économique
• trade name    (Comm) nom de marque
• trade off    peser le pour et le contre, échanger contre
• trade on    exploiter, se servir de
• trade price    prix de vente
• trade school    école de commerce
• trade secret    secret de fabrication, secret d'État (hum)
• trade union    syndicat
• trade up    (Comm) reprendre
• trade wind    (Météo) alizé
• trades union    syndicat

Deutsch (German)
n. - Handel, Handwerk, Fach, Gewerbe, Geschäft, Tausch, (ugs.) Handel in Spirituosen, (Slang) U-Boot-Dienst, Passatwind
v. - handeln, tauschen, austauschen, Handel treiben, Handelswaren befördern
adj. - Handels-

idioms:

• in trade    im Handel tätig sein, ein Geschäft haben
• trade cycle    Konjunkturzyklus
• trade down    etwas Wertvolles gegen etwas von einem niedrigen Wert tauschen
• trade fair    (Fach)messe
• trade gap    Handelsbilanzdefizit
• trade in    handeln mit, eintauschen, in Zahlung geben
• trade journal    Fachzeitschrift
• trade name    Fachbezeichnung, Markenname, Firmenbezeichnung
• trade off    gegeneinander austauschen
• trade on    Kapital schlagen aus
• trade price    Einkaufspreis
• trade school    Gewerbeschule
• trade secret    Geschäftsgeheimnis
• trade union    Gewerkschaft
• trade up    etwas in Zahlung einer teuren Sache geben
• trade wind    Passatwind
• trades union    Gewerkschaft

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - εμπόριο, συναλλαγή, επάγγελμα, τέχνη, δουλειά, συντεχνία, συνάφι, κλάδος, ανταλλαγή
v. - εμπορεύομαι, συναλλάσσομαι, κάνω δουλειές, ανταλλάσσω
adj. - εμπορικός, επαγγελματικός, συντεχνιακός

idioms:

• be in trade    κάνω εμπόριο
• trade alliance    εμπορική συμμαχία
• trade cycle    (οικον.) (Βρετ.) κύκλος της οικονομικής δραστηριότητας
• trade fair    εμποροπανήγυρη
• trade gap    (οικον.) έλλειμμα εμπορικού ισοζυγίου
• trade in    ανταλλάσσω (μεταχειρισμένο αγαθό με καινούργιο)
• trade journal    περιοδικό συγκεκριμένου χώρου
• trade name    εμπορική επωνυμία, φίρμα
• trade off    ανταλλάσσω, κάνω τράμπα, θυσιάζω, δίνω σε αντάλλαγμα για κάτι άλλο, αξιοποιώ
• trade on    εκμεταλλεύομαι
• trade price    (οικον.) τιμή χονδρικής πωλήσεως
• trade school    επαγγελματική σχολή
• trade secret    μυστικό του επαγγέλματος
• trade union    συνδικαλιστική οργάνωση, εργατικό σωματείο, συνδικάτο
• trade wind    (μετεωρ.) αληγής άνεμος, (ο) ετησίας
• trades union    συνδικαλιστική οργάνωση, εργατικό σωματείο, συνδικάτο
• trading estate    εμπορικό συγκρότημα

Italiano (Italian)
vendere, barattare, scambiare, commerciare, commercio, mestiere, circolo commerciale, commerciale

idioms:

• be in trade    essere nel commercio
• trade cycle    ciclo economico
• trade fair    fiera
• trade gap    disavanzo commerciale
• trade in    scambiare
• trade journal    giornale economico
• trade name    nome depositato
• trade off    scambiare
• trade on    approfittare di
• trade price    prezzo all'ingrosso
• trade school    scuola commerciale
• trade secret    segreto commerciale
• trade wind    alisei
• trade(s) union    sindacato
• trading estate    zona commerciale

Português (Portuguese)
n. - comércio (m), freguesia (m), troca (f), ocupação (f), profissão (f)
v. - trocar, negociar
adj. - pouco escrupuloso

idioms:

• be in trade    ser comerciante
• trade cycle    ciclo comercial
• trade fair    feira de comércio
• trade gap    quando a importação excede a exportação
• trade in    entregar, trocar
• trade journal    atas comerciais
• trade name    nome do ofício
• trade off    troca
• trade on    tirar partido de
• trade price    preço de revenda
• trade school    escola profissional
• trade secret    segredo do ofício
• trade union    sindicato
• trade wind    vento alísio
• trade(s) union    sindicatos
• trading estate    distrito (m) comercial/industrial (Brit.)

Русский (Russian)
торговать, промышлять, обменивать, менять, торговля, ремесло, торговый, ремесленный, промышленный

idioms:

• be in trade    работать по торговой части, торговец
• trade cycle    цикл торговли
• trade fair    промышленная ярмарка
• trade gap    дефицит торгового баланса
• trade in    отдача старой вещи в счет покупки новой
• trade journal    журнал, посвященный профессиональным вопросам
• trade name    фабричная марка
• trade off    сбывать (старые товары)
• trade on    "сделать капитал" на чем-л. (подчас нечестным образом)
• trade price    оптовая/фабричная цена
• trade school    профессиональная школа
• trade secret    профессиональный секрет
• trade union    проф. союз
• trade wind    пассат
• trade(s) union    профсоюз(ы)
• trading estate    промышленная зона

Español (Spanish)
n. - negocio, oficio, profesión, artesanía, industria, ramo, tráfico, comercio, círculo profesional
v. intr. - cambiar, canjear, negociar, comerciar
v. tr. - vender, cambiar, canjear, trocar, comerciar o tratar en
adj. - comercial, mercantil

idioms:

• in trade    estar en un negocio, ser comerciante, tener un negocio
• trade cycle    ciclo económico, coyuntura
• trade down    intercambiar un artículo de más valor por uno de menos
• trade fair    feria de muestras, feria comercial
• trade gap    déficit comercial, de la balanza comercial
• trade in    entregar un artículo como entrada para el pago de otro artículo
• trade journal    revista de una profesión o ramo determinados
• trade name    nombre comercial, razón social
• trade off    intercambiar
• trade on    aprovecharse de
• trade price    precio para reventa, precio al por mayor
• trade school    escuela artesanal, escuela de artes y oficios
• trade secret    secreto de fabricación
• trade union    asociación profesional obrera, sindicato gremial, gremio
• trade up    intercambiar un artículo de más valor por uno de menos
• trade wind    vientos alisios
• trades union    asociación profesional obrera, sindicato gremial, gremio

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - handel, affärer, bransch
v. - handla, göra affärer
adj. - handels-, affärs-, bransch-

中文（简体） (Chinese (Simplified))
贸易, 交易, 商业, 经商, 买卖, 用...进行交换

idioms:

• be in trade    是做买卖的, 是做生意的, 是零售商
• trade alliance    贸易协议
• trade cycle    商业周期, 经济循环
• trade fair    贸易展销会, 商展
• trade gap    贸易差额
• trade in    抵价购物
• trade journal    行业杂志
• trade name    商号, 商标, 商品名
• trade off    以物易物, 权衡法, 权衡利弊
• trade on    利用
• trade price    批发价
• trade school    中等专业学校, 职业学校
• trade secret    商业机密, 秘密
• trade union    工会
• trade wind    信风
• trades union    工会

中文（繁體） (Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 貿易, 交易, 商業
v. intr. - 交易, 經商, 買賣
v. tr. - 用...進行交換

idioms:

• be in trade    是做買賣的, 是做生意的, 是零售商
• trade alliance    貿易協定
• trade cycle    商業周期, 經濟循環
• trade fair    貿易展銷會, 商展
• trade gap    貿易差額
• trade in    抵價購物
• trade journal    行業雜誌
• trade name    商號, 商標, 商品名
• trade off    以物易物, 權衡法, 權衡利弊
• trade on    利用
• trade price    批發價
• trade school    中等專業學校, 職業學校
• trade secret    商業機密, 秘密
• trade union    工會
• trade wind    貿易風
• trades union    工會

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 무역, 직업, 업계
v. intr. - 무역을 하다
v. tr. - 교환하다, 팔아 치우다

idioms:

• be in trade    장사하다
• trade in    장사하다
• trade off    팔아버리다, 교환하다, 서로 번갈아가며 사용하기
• trade on    ~을 이용하다

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 貿易, 商売, 職業, 顧客, 得意先, 同業者, 交換, トレード, 商業, 売買
v. - 商う, 取り引きする, 交換する, トレードする, いつも買い物をする

idioms:

• be in trade    貿易に従事している
• the tools of the trade    顧客のいいなり
• trade alliance    貿易協定
• trade cycle    景気循環
• trade fair    見本市
• trade gap    貿易欠損
• trade in    下取りしてもらう
• trade journal    業界雑誌, 業界誌
• trade name    商用名, 商品名, 商号, 屋号
• trade off    交互に使用する, 交換する
• trade on    利用する
• trade price    卸値
• trade school    職業学校
• trade secret    企業秘密
• trade union    労働組合
• trade wind    貿易風
• trade(s) union    労働組合

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) تجارة, حرفه, مهنه (فعل) يتسوق, يتاجر (صفه) تجاري‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮סחר, סחר-חליפין, עסק, עיסקה, מקצוע, עבודה, מלאכה, אומנות, ספקי מזון מורשים, חילופי עלבונות או מהלומות‬
v. intr. - ‮הוביל סחורה, עשה עיסקה, קנה ומכר מניות או מטבעות‬
v. tr. - ‮החליף (סחורות), קנה, החליף (מהלומות, עלבונות וכו)‬

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