he exchange of goods and services among nations international trade goods and services purchased from other countries

imports goods and services sold to other countries exports occurs when a country has natural resources or talents that allow it to produce an item at the lowest cost possible absolute advantage the value that a nation gains by selling what it produces most efficiently comparative advantage the difference in value between exports and imports of a nation balance of trade occurs when a nation imports more than it exports trade deficit occurs when a nation exports more than it imports trade surplus commercial exchange between nations that is conducted on free market principles, without restrictive regulations free trade a tax on imports tariff used to produce revenue for a country revenue-producing tariff used to increase the price of imported goods so that domestic products can compete with them protective tariff limits either the quantity or the monetary value of a product that may be imported quota a total ban on specific goods coming into and leaving a country embargo a government's policies that restrict imports in order to protect domestic industries protectionism a coalition of nations that makes rules governing international trade (WTO) World Trade Organization an international trade agreement among the United States, Canada, and Mexico

(NAFTA) North American Free Trade Agreement established free trade among the European member nations and a central bank (EU) European Union letting another company use a trademark, patent, specific formula, company name, etc. for a fee or royalty licensing a franchisor grants the franchisee the rights to operate under the company name franchise agreement involves hiring a foreign manufacturer to make your products, according to your specifications contract manufacturing a business enterprise that companies set up together joint venture the establishment of a business in a foreign country (FDI) Foreign Direct Investment large corporations that have operations in several countries multinationals midsize or smaller companies that have operations in foreign countries mini-nationals selling the same product and using the same promotion methods in all countries globalization changing an existing product and/or promotion to better suit the characteristics of a country or region adaptation specially designing products or promotions for certain countries or regions customization having possibility or capability. potential the basic facilities and services that support a community infrastructure belonging to a corporation corporate direct one's attention on something focus