What is International Trade?

First of all, trade is a practice that dates back to the dawn of civilization and humankind, but it has evolved over time, becoming more sophisticated and less rigorous to improve the experience between buyers and sellers. Now it's time for you to learn what international trade is.

Within commercial development, the need was detected to create a subconcept that specifies the exchange of goods and services not at the national or regional level but at the global level, and this is where the concept of international trade was created.

It is considered the transfer or exchange of goods and services throughout the world in order to meet market demand and ultimately reach consumers.

Obviously, talking about international trade also means mentioning currency exchange rates, which play a fundamental role, as they are the payment mechanism for services and are linked to parallel regulations stipulated by governments or global markets, not to mention customs processes.

Customs are the points or offices responsible for determining what merchandise enters and leaves a nation. If a business owner enters this type of market, they must consult with an official from these offices or a lawyer to manage all the relevant procedures and transfer their production target to the different marketing points.

When carrying out this type of operation, one of the characteristics of international trade is that companies benefit from the positioning of their products. It's not the same, for example, for Victoria's Secret to be known only in the United States as it is for it to be known in more than 50 countries on various continents.

A little history about the origin of international trade

According to theorists in the field, its beginnings were open during the second half of the 20th century, and more commonly since the 1990s, thanks to the inclusion of Latin American, European, and Asian countries that formed a fairly stable trade network.

However, there is data that confirms that international trade boomed before the 1990s, especially in the ancient era, due to the first signs of distributors traveling long distances to deliver their products to the most remote villages.

Camels, horses, pack animals, and ships, among others, were part of the merchant's transportation tools in ancient times.

Within these voyages, theorists suggest that these unwitting foot traders would have been traveling not only across their continent but also across many others, unwittingly establishing an international trade network.

Over the years, and with the development of more communication tools, this type of commerce has become more popular. Today, an average consumer in Ecuador can comfortably buy a phone from Colombia or the United States at home with just one click on the internet.

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