International Trade and Finance Speech
ECO/372
January 12, 2013.
International trade is essentially when two or more countries exchange goods and services. Many countries export their goods and services to other countries and in turn, they can also import goods and services from other countries to into their own. Advancements with technology have made it a lot easier for international trade to take place. Communication between countries is a good example. Communicating has vastly improved and helped to simplify the trading process. Some technologically advanced countries, like Japan and China have bountiful natural resources and that has a heavy impact on us. The United States is one of the largest contributors to international trade. Our GDP (Gross Domestic Product), is greatly impacted due to being huge import consumers. The United States relies heavily on products from other countries and we import much more than we export. Not only does this impact our GDP by lowering it as we import more than export, is also has an impact on our domestic markets because we are buying more from other countries.
In regard to Foreign Exchange Rates, it is very important to know how they are determined. Considering economic growth within a country is important, governments can make certain that fiscal and monetary policies are in place to ensure that growth continues. Due to the goods and services that are traded between different countries around the world, there are foreign exchange rate payments that are required to be paid. You will see the foreign exchange rate differ from country to country.
What happens when there is a surplus of imports brought into the U.S.? Cite a specific example of a product with an import surplus and the impact that it has on the U.S. Businesses and Consumers involved.
First, it is important to try and keep imports and exports balanced. However, when one exceeds the other, it is called a surplus.
References: Colander, D.C. (2010). Macroeconomics. (8th ed). Boston, MA: Mcgraw-Hill/Irwin Trading Economics. (2012) United States Consumer Confidence. Retrieved from http://www.tradingeconomics.com/united-states/consumer-confidence.