International trade has mustered a positive fillip from globalization, rapid industrialization, advent of multinational companies and the tenets of outsourcing. For any country that likes to usher into the league of superpower, International trade can be the chief source of monetizing. Imagine a country without the boost-up of import and export. Such a nation would become a closed economy and eventually perish.

International trade is costlier than domestic trading as it has to fill for transport delays, tariff structures like import and export duties and also cover for the legal and linguistic hindrance that another national territory may pose. International trade is much rather restricted to trading in goods and services. It is fundamentally deprived of the mobility to carry capital and labor across the sea hence it refrains from dealing in this aspect.

The principle is simple, rather than dealing in the factors of production, international trade deals in its output; the quintessential goods and services. Land, labor, capital and enterprise create goods and services and international trade uses the last chain of the logistic- the end product.

International Trade in combination with International Finance makes for International Economics. Since the Second World War, most of the superpowers have affiliated to world-regulatory bodies like WTO and GATT. This is in view to build a globally regulated Free Trade structure. Tariffs like import and export duties are heavily regulated and it works in favor of producing laws which denies shutting down a country from entering another national market.

Henry Paulson is the secretary of the US Treasury and his article on the Foreign Affairs Magazine for the September/October 2008 Issue shows a perspective that the prosperity of the United States and China depends heavily on helping China further integrate itself into the global economic system through trade, investments and the integration of the financial markets. According to Paulson, the launch of the U.S. - China Economic Dialogue (SED) was an important step taken in 2006 by President Bush and Chinese President Hu Jintao in expanding the relationship of these two superpowers over the long term. Despite the long history of interaction between the two nations, they both have had misunderstandings in various areas. Thus the SED began to play a big role in enabling policy makers from both sides to meet each other as equals and to work toward a strategic goal. Early on, China always was very defensive of its national interests, especially against foreign demands thus the US, in particular, was perceived as arrogant aggressive bully in China even when these foreign powers were legitimately pursuing their interests with China. However, since the creation of the SED under President Bush, legitimate high level avenues of diplomatic contact was made possible for China and the US to corporate and avoid such misunderstandings.

After its creation, the SED began to focus on a number of issues including the rising growth imbalances, US-Chinese economic relationship, energy security, environmental sustainability, trade and investment issues, product safety and China's position in the global economic system. Unlike the image the Americans have about China, china is actually facing a growing crisis behind all the façade of power. The same reason that spurned growth in China is now becoming an obstacle to Chinese social stability and sustained economic growth. The Chinese growth was all based on exports and investments in its capital, which has led to rise of rapid energy consumption, environmental damage, an unequal amount of infrastructure in the coastal China compared to inland China and increasing tensions with trade partners due to Chinese market policies and trade surpluses. China also faces a population crisis as the traditional source for retirement benefits were their Children but the one child policy and the dangers in society have drastically made China's biggest resources - their children a scare resource. So now China must find a way to help the rapidly aging population with retirement and health benefits.

As two of the biggest consumers of oil, China and the US share a large interest in energy security and developing alternative energy sources. Chinese policy to set price caps on subsidized oil and electricity to promote stable social life has failed as it led to wasteful consumption. Now the control of energy demand has become a growing concern in the country among the middle and upper class. The US also has begun to address the issue of inadequate protection of intellectual property rights in China through the SED and also began to press China into opening its closed market practices to foreign businesses. In the years to come, three possible choices exist for Chinese - US relations: robust engagement, dispute resolution through multilateral and bilateral enforcement measures and punitive measures - being that the first two tend to work better with China than punitive measures.

What is outsourcing? According to Nelson King, “Outsourcing means having IT work (programming, call center, tech support, design etc) done by workers in other countries, often through some kind of intermediary-specialist companies that facilitate the work”. “The work is sent to other countries because it can be done for less money” (King, 2003, p.1).

Will shifting jobs to lower-wage countries-a form of off shore outsourcing benefit the United States economy in the long-term? With the outsourcing of jobs to other countries many US workers find themselves out of work. How does this truly help our economy? Less jobs here in the United States and less products made here cause me to think that outsourcing may not be the way to go.

Many companies outsource to benefit their needs. What are the risks involved with outsourcing? Do companies need to outsource? What about the average Joe who is trying to support his family and has been at the same job for years? Joe depends on his pay check that has increased over the years with raises and time that has accumulated at years on his job. What happens to him when he looses his job to someone in India who is getting paid much less money to perform his job now?

As time goes on companies in the United States see things a different way. In the Controller's report a recent study from “Financial executives International” explains, “the primary reason companies outsource is “not a core competency' mentioned by 455 and “cost in too high”. (35%)” (The Controller's Report, 2007, p.9). According to the above study it is also written that “Companies outsource processes that cannot be done well-in-house and or those when done in-house have costs that are too high.” (The Controller's Report, 2007, p.9). Also itis stated in this article is; “controllers who have outsourced one or more areas consider their arrangements successful” (The Controller's Report, 2007, p. 9).

According to Martin Schuchman, “small and midsize businesses need their core communications services to not only be reliable, but also to be available anywhere and anytime” (Schuchman, 2006, p. 18). The above article states that “SMBS use outsourcing use outsourcing to alleviate the headaches and management of upgrades, network maintenance and support” (Schuchman, 2006, p.18). “Outsourcing also offers comprehensive physical, network, and application-level security”, according to Martin Schuchman (2006, p. 18).

There are so many aspects to outsourcing. Does the United States gain more monies from outsourcing jobs elsewhere; to have them done by people we don'tknow, and cannot supervise properly?

There are numerous problems with outsourcing. Common sense is that one of them is language. I certainly would have difficulty learning the needs of a job when someone is speaking a different language. When there are different countries; there are different languages. Here in the United States communication is simple. The English language is the dominant language. Understanding the facts of a job needing to be done is much easier when speaking the same language. Ideas and thoughts are less likely to be misinterpreted thus the job has a much better chance at getting done correctly. I believethis is common sense.

Outsourcing is a form of global trade. As with anything else that is under development, there are always risks involved. According to an article written by Andrew I. Sicilliano and Douglas P. Zuvich, “As global competition expands, companies are exposed to myriad risks related to their international trade activities.” “New opportunities overseas, increased government scrutiny of exports due to heightened security concerns, a surge in special trade programs and increasing trade activity make 2007, a year in which businesses will need to manage these trade risks more than ever before”( Sicilliano, & Zuvich, 2006, p. 53). “Trade risks is not as simple to manage as other business risks, given the number of government agencies involved and the fact that every transaction may be subject to numerous regulations”( Sicillano, & Zuvich, 2006, p. 53).

“CPAS should make companies aware that trade risks may arise even when there is not a purchase or sale transaction” (Sicilliano, & Zuvich, 2006, p. 53). CPAS (certified public account specialists) need to identify risks for companies and address the underlying problems not known by the involved companies. In my own opinion maybe the CPAS should think about the families that are involved in the triangle of outsourcing also. Families are so unprotected by all the loss of monies within their family units in the United States. As for reality the CPAS are only for the large companies if they do their job properly. As for the average person out there trying to survive, he or she is basically on his or her own. Wouldn't you agree?

Quality control again in affected by language barrier as well as management control. Imagine speaking to someone 4,000 miles away concerns regarding a product. Imagine this person hardly speaks English. The expense is surmountable; to have an American on site to oversee the quality control, and manage the products or jobs being done. And this;involves time, and distance. Distance affects the ability to manage a product or service and difficulty for logistics and quality control (King, 2003).

Another dilemma is other countries understanding laws. Some countries do not recognize copyright law. Also Terrorism and instability are part of the set backs experienced in outsourcing. If it is so unsafe then why in the United States doing it in the first place (King, 2003)?

The effect of the economy with the loss of jobs in the United States continues with productivity changes, along with risks of outsourcing involved. “Outsourcing from the United States economy is generally for low-value jobs, like back-office operations, phone centers and data entry” (Bhagwatti, Panagariya, & Srinivasan, 2004, 93-114) . “Outsourcing means that the United States economy loses low-wage call centers, but gains high-wage hobs in medical, legal, and other services.” Bhagwati, Panagariva, & Srinivasan, 2004, 93-114).

So, here is the average Joe's dilemma again. If Joe loses his job and his wife is having a baby, what does he do in the mean time? His job would be hard to replace. Does that mean he goes back to school? How does he support his family?

Outsourcing can be ideal for the future; but weas Americans should think of the standpoint of today. Tomorrow has problems of its own. People need to feed their families in the United States.

According to Murray W. Baum, “outsourcing and the savings it generates are the beginning, not the end of the adjustment process”. “Cost reductions from outsourcing can open up new market opportunities for US companies and thus generate additional jobs here at home.” (Baum M., 2004, p. 35) “As poor countries overseas develop their economies, new markets are created for US made products and services.” (Baum M., 2004, p. 36). “While direct manufacturing employment has been declining, total US production of manufactured goods has risen about 405 over the past decade” (Baum M., 2004 p .36).

The opinions of the press along with statistics give us all an overview of outsourcing. But where does outsourcing lead us? Today we need our jobs. Considering all the wonderful outcomes of the future; how can we enjoy them; if today we can't support our families and afford to eat a decent meal?

The first thing you need to do is to find some useful B2B web site in your trade, if you want to make good use of the internet to find business partners. To my knowledge, alibaba.com is one of the best places to go to find business partners from around the world. You can make a list of them.

Get registered with the web site. When you pay a visit to a B2B web site, you are asked to fill in some of the information to be a member of the web site, free or paid, as you like. When you want to make a good use of it, you need to be a paid member of the site. Just fill the forms required, and submit the form. Sometimes, you can log in at once, while some web sites require that you need to prove your information submitted. However, it usually can be done within 24 hours.

The next step is to fill in your product or any demands or any business lead that you want the others know. This kind of information will usually be proved by the web site, so you need to be patient to see your information appear on line. Once there is a requirement from another businessman, which can reach you by email or via the online communication tools, you need to reply to the requirement as soon as possible. Sometimes, the buyers will ask for samples. Under this situation, you need to know about the buyers first, to make sure that they are the right buyers for your products.

When you need to buy something, you can act as a buyer. Post your information on the web site. Later, you will find many sellers will contact you. Select the ones that you want to do business with, and sign contracts with them, if necessary.

Since there are many scams on the web site, you need to use your head to avoid being cheated. So, find the buyers or sellers with credit, and sign contracts. Also, you need to probe a little bit about your buyers or sellers. This is very important. Once you can use the B2B web sites well, you can expand your trade much faster. There will be more business partners for you to do business with. You need to be an expert of it if you want to use online trade method well. As we know, international trade, with the development of the globalization, it is becoming more and more active around the world. Though this kind of trade can be traced back to ancient times, and the very idea of the international trade is not quite different from the past, there are dramatic changes in this area.

If you want to do international trade, you need to be a student of so many things first. This experience is a must. Since the procedure of the international trade is much more complicated than the domestic trade, the costs and expenses on the same amount goods vary a lot. There are transportation fees, duty, risks, etc.

Therefore, you are suggested that you should take part in a class about international trade first, or follow some one who has been in this area for a long time, and let him or her be your tutor. You can learn a lot from him or she, definitely. Also, you can start as a salesman who sells products around the world, or a buyer agent, who helps purchase from abroad. Even you are a staff member of a trade company, you can learn from what you do.

If you have enough knowledge, and you have your channels, you can start your own international business. You will prepare samples for the buyers, attend international trade exhibitions, take part in international trade meetings etc. This will help to expand your network in your area.

Another thing to remind you is that you need to be very careful in this kind of trade. “You can never be careful enough.” From producing procedure to sending them to your buyers, there are too many things that can spoil the trade, and even can make you be fined by failing to accomplish the contract signed with the buyer. Even a few days delay will make you lose money instead of make some profit.

Learn about the trading rules of the countries that you have business. Pay attention to both political and economic environment of the countries, in case there are some events that can influence your business greatly. Last year, during the trade war between China and EU, millions of dollars loss occurred.

Maybe, you say that it is a piece of cake. Take your pen, and sign it. No. It is not the case. The first thing is to negotiate the trade terms, including delivery date, product specifications, delivery terms, payment terms, etc. These terms should be negotiated by you and the party or parties involved in the business.

If you have a lawyer who is an expert on international trade laws, it would be wonderful. If you have a group of lawyers to help you, it would be much more wonderful. However, you should make all the conditions clear to the lawyer or lawyers.

If you receive the draft contract from the other party, you need to consult a lawyer for it, if you are not an expert on contracts. There are much more details for you to pay attention to, which may be fatal to your business. Going through the draft carefully and making some changes if necessary are both important procedures before you confirm all the terms. Pay special attention to delivery terms, and payment terms, and try to find if there are many clauses which are unfair to you.

Each confirmation of a contract should be given to a lawyer to help you to make a decision. If there is no problem, sign it. Otherwise, try to make some necessary changes by giving your opinion to the other party. That will be a further negotiation.

Each confirmation of the signed contracts should be written, not oral. At least, there should be an email from the other party. Also, you need to have the lawyer to help to decide if it can be signed. Only with his or her check and approval, you can sign it.

After all this kind of things done, you need to make sure that the contract should be kept in a safe place, for it is very important for your business. So, you need to form a habit that the contract should be kept in order, and it is convenient for you to find it later. No matter how hard it is, no matter how easy it is, you need to follow the procedures that I mentioned above. Otherwise, you may have your regrets later.

This is you if you have a brand to promote. You are the source of the brand. Together with your marketing communication agency, you decide on how to position your brand and who you want to reach. Once the brand position and the target audience are decided, you start developing your brand message.

The brand message

The brand message is what your company wants your customers and other stakeholders to perceive. All the information and experience of the brand should be designed into the message. Here's where the 4Ps of marketing; product, price, place (distribution) and promotion play a crucial part in how you design your brand message.

The communication channel

It's all about picking the right media to reach the right target audience. Knowing the habits of the target audience is important in deciding which media channel to communicate the brand message through. For example, if your target audience is car owners, advertising on radio would be a better bet than on a parenting magazine. Media channels include TV, radio, newspaper, magazines, billboards, internet, mailers and product placement on TV shows and movies.

Noise

People are being bombarded by advertisements every day, everywhere. So how do you get your brand message through all this noise and clutter? Well, your message will not be seen and heard if your copy is poorly produced, and has a lack of clarity. Bad timing of the release and clutter from your competitor's messages are also points you need to consider. So remember the lower the noise level, the higher chance of your brand message being seen and heard.

The customer

This is the group you want your brand message to reach and get a positive response. You want your customers to remember your brand, to like it enough to act upon a desire to purchase it. To help you hook the customer, your brand message needs to be simple and relevant. Also allow your customers to ask questions and to interact. This will create positive perception of your brand.

Feedback

You want to hear what your customers think about your product. This is an important key in any marketing communication. Besides gathering information about your customers, you can also generate more leads, provide more information to reinforce their liking for your brand and to be sure you are on the right track in your brand messaging and channel choices.

One example would be that of capital punishment. The United States clings to this practice as justified, legal, and right. Nations like Mexico and Canada would dispute this point. We would find it offensive if either of these free trade partners were to slap us with economic sanctions until we corrected this difference. In their nations, we would be human rights violators.

The United States lags much of the free and not so free world in providing health care to each and every citizen on an equal basis without cost. For those who cannot get treatment for serious illnesses until they declare bankruptcy in this nation, this is certainly a human rights violation. Just ask Michael Moore. Even some of those human rights violators that we condemn provide health care for their citizens.

Let's take on poverty. Nearly 40% of Americans live in poverty conditions. About 20% of the nation lives in affluence at the same time. Somehow, this inequity is never accounted for when discussing human rights.

We have limited human rights to democracy and free speech for the most part. It is our standard of human rights that needs to be observed. So, with this in mind, doing business with the culturally diverse countries of the world may need to be rethought.

While I would never agree with solving internal problems with tanks, can we revisit Waco, Texas, about a decade ago? Whether you agree with the Branch Davidians or not, it is hard to say that their human rights were not at least bent considerably if not violated.

If we have an opportunity to make a profit that will improve our nation's financial strength, why should be worry about cultural differences getting in the way? Let's go ahead an take the money and run. We expect the rest of the world to take that approach with us. Fair is fair. We should have the same right to exploit the rest of the human rights violators in the same way that they do us.

Language and culture are far more difficult to master than most people would believe. Easy problems like not selling pork to deeply religious Jews in Israel are few and far between. One of the more famous international language blunders occurred when General Motors decided to market the Nova in Mexico. In Spanish, the word Nova means "does not run." Everyone was lining up to not buy that car.

Companies like Kentucky Fried Chicken and WalMart have each had well documented marketing issues in Japan because of the dramatic cultural differences between the east and west. Just as an item that markets well in one part of the country may languish in another region, international cultural differences can all but kill a new business venture if a company has not done enough market research. The same is true if that research has ignored the regional differences in the new nation.

Tensions between nations can change the business view in a very short time. If one nation decides to slap tariffs on imports from a nation that they had always maintained a policy of free trade, it can be death to those products. An example from a few years ago involved Girl Scout cookies to soldiers in Japan. Japan opted to place tariff of more than $10 per box in these cookies. Thousands of boxes of cookies were left in the warehouse at the port because the tax was higher than the value of the product.

When a company gets slapped by these types of taxes, their products become waste. The profits then head for the basement to become large losses. Many nations try to avoid these practices so that their products are not given the same treatment, but it is too bad if you happen to be the unlucky one caught in the tariff crossfire.

If the international tensions rise too high, all imports and exports are stopped. Often the businesses running within the new country are seized and taken over by the government. This can happen both when nations are feuding and when national leadership experiences a dramatic shift.

Many of the oil fields developed by large companies were taken over in various areas of the world a few decades ago. It did not matter how loud the companies complained. The nation has a right to take what it wants when it is held by foreigners. Losing mineral rights, equipment, and buildings were extreme losses to be absorbed. Fortunately, big oil was strong enough to withstand these financial setbacks.

If a nation becomes radical or militant in its outlook, all assets held by foreign interests will be seized . This can spell not only problems for the new businesses in that country, but the losses can be large enough to topple the company that made the investments

At the start of January, Linden Lab unveiled a new policy on virtual institutions who offer "interest or other kinds of monetary return." In short, Linden Lab now requires virtual financial institutions to have a real-life financial license in order to keep operating in it's Second Life virtual world. The Second Life financial community feels that Linden Lab points to lawyers to explain how the new system would work out for them, as has happened many times before.

Failure of the Second Life Financial System

Linden Lab itself had quite a large package of reasons to introduce the new banking policy: The failure of virtual banking giant Ginko Financial in August last year - costing the Second Life committee an estimated $ 700,000 to $ 900,000 real-world dollars, as the ATMs where just closed and Ginko bonds declined in value and are now worth about 2-3% of their original value - and the failure of Midas Bank - which cost the community an estimated $ 25,000 - and the failure of many other banks, which cost the Second Life community somewhere between $ 1.2 million and $ 1.5 million.

And it's not just banks: there currently are about five active stock exchanges in Second Life. One has already failed, with no one getting their investments back, costing the community about $ 5,000 to $ 6,000. Many other failures have not been documented, and estimated on the number of failing financial virtual institutions vary a lot, as there is no sound measurement system of business activity in Second Life.

There is no official financial authority regulating Second Life's financial industry; the only official authority is Linden Lab, which usually does not interfere with the activity of residents. There are several unofficial authorities, such as the Second Life Securities and Exchange Commission, better known as the "SLEC" within Second Life, which was supported by the majority of the big virtual financial institutions in Second Life, until it's founder started an exchange himself.

The lack of having a regulated financial industry has resulted in an extraordinary amount of failures and very high interest rates, with several banks offering an interest rate in excess of 50% per annum. Most CEO's of virtual banks do not possess any kind of experience in the financial industry and they do not comply to real-world laws.

Linden Lab Speaks: It's becoming too bad

Linden Lab, Second Life's developer, usually does not interfere with the actions of residents. However, exactly that is happening more frequently than ever, as Linden Lab acknowledges the legal risks an unregulated financial industry and illegal gambling are to them. Linden Lab now seems to ban industries which are a legal nuisance or are close to becoming that for them, which is a good thing as most of these industries are either illegal in the real world - and that has it's reasons - are not properly managed or are unregulated and therefore are a risk - not only to Linden Lab itself, but also to the community.

The Countdown to a Regulated Financial System

By now, most virtual banks have shut down operations. However, some, such as L&L Bank and Trust, are in the process of applying for a real-world banking license. With a capital of less then $ 100,000 in most cases, there's little chance that these organizations will be approved as owners of a real-life financial services license. The rules to get such a license are too strict to be able to comply with them in most cases, and the minimum capital requirement is too high. Some banks take the creative approach: They apply for a banking license in a country with not-so-strict financial services regulation, such as Nigeria and Australia.

If Linden Lab is able to control the activity of the financial services providers that still exist, there's a good chance that the virtual world of Second Life will have a regulated financial industry within a year.

 

Globalisation

• Eroding national boundaries, international developments, international organizations having and increasing impact on economic performance
• Trades in G + S US$8.5 trillion to US$16.0 trillion 1990-2002. Averaging 7% growth per year.
• Financial flows reaching US$24.5 trillion in 2003. Deregulation of financial markets. Increased volatility and speculation.
• Investment growth. FDI grew seven fold between 1990-2000. Fell to US$560 billion in 2003 due to economic slowdown. Reflecting interdependence between developing and developed.
• TNC's doubled from 37,000 to 60,000. Expansion of other features extending beyond national boundaries.
• Advocates - best opportunity for growth, specialization, allocative efficiency, greater access to technology, labour and increased living standards
• Critics - Widening gap between rich and poor, distorts distribution of income and wealth, environmental costs, richer nations and NIC's are favored, while developing and transition economies are neglected

Trade

• Increased trade flows with growth in trading blocs and agreements. Increased specialization and efficiency. Increase growth and GWP. Growth in global trade expected to remain over 7%.
• FTA with China in July 2005 TFC industry. Lift tariffs, may cause structural unemployment, benefit specialist/brand name textile market
• If trade growth in Africa, Asia and Latin America is lifted by 1%, it will lift 128 million out of poverty
• WTO Doha November 2001 - cut protection US$700 billion, raise GWP by US$2.8 trillion by 2015 - failed to meet January 1 2005 deadline. WTO Hong Kong November 2005.
• Poorer nations' share of world trade has declined

Financial and investment flows

• Deregulation, improve access to overseas finance to fund domestic investment, negative effect on CAD, increased volatility and speculation
• Increased FDI - six times greater than levels in 1980's, 77% of flows received by developed nations in 2002. Accelerates growth and innovation.
• Growth of capital flows, increased speculation and volatility, Asian financial crisis in late 1990's, short term financial flow increased with exchange traded derivatives reaching US$24.5 trillion in 2003. Negative impact on CAD and growth.

Economic Performance and Living Standards

• Increased competition, technology, innovation, specialization in efficient industries, increased global growth
• Sub-Saharan African transition economies experiencing stagnant/negative rates of growth. NIC's in Asia Pacific average growth of 7.3% 1990-2002.
• Absolute poverty is decreased with increased growth and better living standards
• Countries unable to attract FDI are worse off as the income gap widens. Emergence of the "global elite" with majority of poorer nations left behind as resources and labour are directed to the richer productive nations. 2.8 billion living on less than US$2 a day.

Government Policies

• Economic management - market oriented economic policy to increase international competitiveness. Australian economy adopting floating exchange rate in December 1983 as a shift towards market forces. Less Government intervention opening up economy. Implementing of macroeconomic policy for the long term supply rather than macro short term demand which will effect inflation and markets.
• Transition economies adopting these policies have suffered from severe economic problems

Environmental Problems

• Greater global environmental awareness - global policies conventions to enforce environmental compliance. Ratification of the Kyoto protocol achieving multilateral progress.
• Environmental degradation through industry practices, exploitation of environment for economic growth
• WTO restricting ability of countries to put environmental protections as they are trade barriers. Doha discussing possible proposals.