Unit-IIIUnit-IIIUnit-IIIUnit-IIIUnit-IIIChapter-9

International Trade

You are already familiar with the term “trade”as a tertiary activity which you have studied inChapter 7 of this book. You know that trademeans the voluntary exchange of goods andservices. Two parties are required to trade. Oneperson sells and the other purchases. In certainplaces, people barter their goods. For both theparties trade is mutually beneficial.

Trade may be conducted at two levels:international and national. International tradeis the exchange of goods and services amongcountries across national boundaries.Countries need to trade to obtain commodities,they cannot produce themselves or they canpurchase elsewhere at a lower price.

The initial form of trade in primitivesocieties was the barter system, where directexchange of goods took place. In this system ifyou were a potter and were in need of a plumber,you would have to look for a plumber whowould be in need of pots and you couldexchange your pots for his plumbing service.

Fig. 9.1: Two women practising barter system inJon Beel Mela

Every January after the harvest season Jon Beel Melatakes place in Jagiroad, 35 km away from Guwahatiand it is possibly the only fair In India, where bartersystem is still alive. A big market is organised duringthis fair and people from various tribes and communi-ties exchange their products.

The difficulties of barter system wereovercome by the introduction of money. In theolden times, before paper and coin currency

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Fundamentals of Human Geography82

came into being, rare objects with very highintrinsic value served as money, like,flintstones, obsidian, cowrie shells, tiger’spaws, whale’s teeth, dogs teeth, skins, furs,cattle, rice, peppercorns, salt, small tools,copper, silver and gold.

The word salary comes from the Latin word Salariumwhich means payment by salt. As in those timesproducing salt from sea water was unknown and couldonly be made from rock salt which was rare andexpensive. That is why it became a mode of payment.

HISTORY OF INTERNATIONAL TRADEHISTORY OF INTERNATIONAL TRADEHISTORY OF INTERNATIONAL TRADEHISTORY OF INTERNATIONAL TRADEHISTORY OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE

In ancient times, transporting goods over longdistances was risky, hence trade was restrictedto local markets. People then spent most of theirresources on basic necessities – food andclothes. Only the rich people bought jewellery,costly dresses and this resulted in trade ofluxury items.

The Silk Route is an early example of longdistance trade connecting Rome to China –along the 6,000 km route. The traderstransported Chinese silk, Roman wool andprecious metals and many other high valuecommodities from intermediate points in India,Persia and Central Asia.

After the disintegration of the RomanEmpire, European commerce grew duringtwelfth and thirteenth century with thedevelopment of ocean going warships tradebetween Europe and Asia grew and theAmericas were discovered.

Fifteenth century onwards, the Europeancolonialism began and along with trade of exoticcommodities, a new form of trade emergedwhich was called slave trade. The Portuguese,Dutch, Spaniards, and British captured Africannatives and forcefully transported them to thenewly discovered Americas for their labour inthe plantations. Slave trade was a lucrativebusiness for more than two hundred years tillit was abolished in Denmark in 1792, GreatBritain in 1807 and United States in 1808.

Figure 9.2 : Advertisement for Slave Auction, 1829

This American slave auction advertised slaves for saleor temporary hire by their owners. Buyers often paid asmuch as $2,000 for a skilled, healthy slave. Such auc-tions often separated family members from one another,many of whom never saw their loved ones again.

After the Industrial Revolution the demandfor raw materials like grains, meat, wool alsoexpanded, but their monetary value declinedin relation to the manufactured goods.

The industrialised nations importedprimary products as raw materials andexported the value added finished productsback to the non-industrialised nations.

In the later half of the nineteenth century,regions producing primary goods were no moreimportant, and industrial nations became eachother’s principle customers.

During the World Wars I and II, countriesimposed trade taxes and quantitativerestrictions for the first time. During the post-war period, organisations like GeneralAgreement for Tariffs and Trade (which laterbecame the World Trade Organisation), helpedin reducing tariff.

Why Does International Trade Exist?

International trade is the result of specialisationin production. It benefits the world economy if

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International Trade 83

different countries practise specialisation anddivision of labour in the production ofcommodities or provision of services. Each kindof specialisation can give rise to trade. Thus,international trade is based on the principle ofcomparative advantage, complimentarity andtransferability of goods and services and inprinciple, should be mutually beneficial to thetrading partners.

In modern times, trade is the basis of theworld’s economic organisation and is relatedto the foreign policy of nations. With well-developed transportation and communicationsystems, no country is willing to forego thebenefits derived from participation ininternational trade.

Basis of International Trade

(i) Difference in national resources: Theworld’s national resources are unevenlydistributed because of differences in theirphysical make up i.e. geology, relief soiland climate.(a) Geological structure: It determines

the mineral resource base andtopographical differences ensurediversity of crops and animalsraised. Lowlands have greateragricultural potential. Mountainsattract tourists and promotetourism.

(b) Mineral resources: They areunevenly distributed the world over.The availability of mineral resourcesprovides the basis for industrialdevelopment.

(c) Climate: It influences the type of floraand fauna that can survive in a givenregion. It also ensures diversity inthe range of various products, e.g.wool production can take place incold regions, bananas, rubber andcocoa can grow in tropical regions.

(ii) Population factors: The size, distributionand diversity of people between countriesaffect the type and volume of goodstraded.(a) Cultural factors: Distinctive forms of

art and craft develop in certain

cultures which are valued the worldover, e.g. China produces the finestporcelains and brocades. Carpets ofIran are famous while North Africanleather work and Indonesian batikcloth are prized handicrafts.

(b) Size of population: Denselypopulated countries have largevolume of internal trade but littleexternal trade because most of theagricultural and industrialproduction is consumed in the localmarkets. Standard of living of thepopulation determines the demandfor better quality imported productsbecause with low standard of livingonly a few people can afford to buycostly imported goods.

(iii) Stage of economic development: Atdifferent stages of economic developmentof countries, the nature of items tradedundergo changes. In agriculturallyimportant countries, agro products areexchanged for manufactured goodswhereas industrialised nations exportmachinery and finished products andimport food grains and other rawmaterials.

(iv) Extent of foreign investment: Foreigninvestment can boost trade in developingcountries which lack in capital requiredfor the development of mining, oil drilling,heavy engineering, lumbering andplantation agriculture. By developingsuch capital intensive industries indeveloping countries, the industrialnations ensure import of food stuffs,minerals and create markets for theirfinished products. This entire cycle stepsup the volume of trade between nations.

(v) T ransport: In olden times, lack ofadequate and efficient means of transportrestricted trade to local areas. Only highvalue items, e.g. gems, silk and spiceswere traded over long distances. Withexpansions of rail, ocean and airtransport, better means of refrigerationand preservation, trade has experiencedspatial expansion.

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Important Aspects of InternationalTrade

International trade has three very importantaspects. These are volume, sectoral compositionand direction of trade.

Volume of Trade

The actual tonnage of goods traded makes upthe volume. However, services traded cannot bemeasured in tonnage. Therefore, the total valueof goods and services traded is considered tobe the volume of trade. Table 9.1 shows thatthe total volume of world trade has been steadilyrising over the past decades.

Why do you think that the volume of trade has increasedover the decades? Can these figures be compared?What has been the growth in the year 2005 over theyear 1955?

Composition of Trade

The nature of goods and services imported andexported by countries have undergone changesduring the last century.

Trade of primary products was dominantin the beginning of the last century. Latermanufactured goods gained prominence andcurrently, though the manufacturing sectorcommands the bulk of the global trade, servicesector which includes travel, transportation andother commercial services have been showingan upward trend.

Table 9.1: World Imports and Exports (in millions of U.S. $)

1980

0

1500

12000

10500

9000

7500

6000

4500

3000

82 84 86 88 90 92 94 96 9820

000

1500

12000

10500

9000

7500

6000

4500

3000

Billion $Billion $ Goods

Services

Source: WTO, T rade Statistics, 2002.

Fig. 9.3: Exports of Goods and Services, 1980-2000

The share of different commodities in totalglobal trade can be seen in the graph below.

0 5 10 15 20

Machinery andTransport EquipmentFuels & Mining Road

Office/Telecome EquipmentChemicals

Automotive ProductsAgriculture Products

Other ManufacturesOther Semi–manufactures

Iron & SteelClothing

Textiles

Percentage to total value

Source: WTO, Trade Statistics, 2005

Fig. 9.4: World Merchandise Exports ByProducts, 2004

Looking at the graph above, we find thatmachinery and transport equipment, fuel andmining products, office and telecom equipment,chemicals, automobile parts, agricultural

1955 1965 1975 1985 1995 2005

Exports 95000 190000 877000 1954000 5162000 10393000

Total Merchandise

Imports 99000 199000 912000 2015000 5292000 10753000

Total Merchandise

Source: WTO, International Trade Statistics, 2005

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International Trade 85

products, iron and steel, clothing and textilesmake up the major items of merchandise whichare traded over the world. Trade in the servicesector is quite different from trade in theproducts of primary and manufacturing sectorsas the services can be expanded infinitely,consumed by many, are weightless and onceproduced, can be easily replicated and thus,are capable of generating more profit thanproducing goods. There are four different waysthrough which services can be supplied. Table9.2 shows different types of services and theshare of those services supplied to theinternational market.

Table 9.2 : Services and their Share to theInternational Market

Relevant Services Share in %

Commercial services excludingtravel and construction services. 35Travel 10 to 15Construction services 50Labour flow 1 to 2

Direction of Trade

Historically, the developing countries of thepresent used to export valuable goods andartefacts, etc. which were exported to Europeancountries. During the nineteenth century therewas a reversal in the direction of trade.European countries started exportingmanufactured goods for exchange of foodstuffsand raw materials from their colonies. Europeand U.S.A. emerged as major trade partners inthe world and were leaders in the trade ofmanufactured goods. Japan at that time wasalso the third important trading country. Theworld trade pattern underwent a drastic changeduring the second half of the twentieth century.Europe lost its colonies while India, China andother developing countries started competingwith developed countries. The nature of thegoods traded has also changed.

Balance of Trade

Balance of trade records the volume of goodsand services imported as well as exported by acountry to other countries. If the value ofimports is more than the value of a country’s

exports, the country has negative orunfavourable balance of trade. If the value ofexports is more than the value of imports, thenthe country has a positive or favourable balanceof trade.

Balance of trade and balance of paymentshave serious implications for a country’seconomy. A negative balance would mean thatthe country spends more on buying goods thanit can earn by selling its goods. This wouldultimately lead to exhaustion of its financialreserves.

Types of International Trade

International trade may be categorised into twotypes:

(a) Bilateral trade: Bilateral trade is doneby two countries with each other. Theyenter into agreement to trade specifiedcommodities amongst them. Forexample, country A may agree to tradesome raw material with agreement topurchase some other specified item tocountry B or vice versa.

(b) Multi-lateral trade: As the term suggestsmulti-lateral trade is conducted withmany trading countries. The samecountry can trade with a number ofother countries. The country may alsogrant the status of the “Most FavouredNation” (MFN) on some of the tradingpartners.

Case for Free Trade

The act of opening up economies for trading isknown as free trade or trade liberalisation. Thisis done by bringing down trade barriers liketariffs. Trade liberalisation allows goods andservices from everywhere to compete withdomestic products and services.

Globalisation along with free trade canadversely affect the economies of developingcountries by not giving equal playing field byimposing conditions which are unfavourable.With the development of transport andcommunication systems goods and services cantravel faster and farther than ever before. Butfree trade should not only let rich countriesenter the markets, but allow the developed

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Fundamentals of Human Geography86

countries to keep their own markets protectedfrom foreign products.

Countries also need to be cautious aboutdumped goods; as along with free tradedumped goods of cheaper prices can harm thedomestic producers.

DumpingDumpingDumpingDumpingDumping

The practice of selling a commodity in twocountries at a price that differs for reasonsnot related to costs is called dumping.

World Trade Organisation

In1948, to liberalise the world from highcustoms tariffs and various other types ofrestrictions, General Agreement for Tariffs andTrade (GATT) was formed by some countries.In 1994, it was decided by the member

countries to set up a permanent institution forlooking after the promotion of free and fair tradeamongst nation and the GATT was transformedinto the World Trade Organisation from 1st

January 1995.WTO is the only international organisation

dealing with the global rules of trade betweennations. It sets the rules for the global tradingsystem and resolves disputes between itsmember nations. WTO also covers trade inservices, such as telecommunication andbanking, and others issues such as intellectualrights.

The WTO has however been criticised andopposed by those who are worried about theeffects of free trade and economic globalisation.It is argued that free trade does not makeordinary people’s lives more prosperous. It isactually widening the gulf between rich andpoor by making rich countries more rich. Thisis because the influential nations in the WTOfocus on their own commercial interests.Moreover, many developed countries have notfully opened their markets to products fromdeveloping countries. It is also argued thatissues of health, worker’s rights, child labourand environment are ignored.

WTO Headquarters are located in Geneva, Switzerland.

149 countries were members of WTO as on December2005.

India has been one of the founder member of WTO.

Regional Trade Blocs

Regional Trade Blocs have come up in order toencourage trade between countries withgeographical proximity, similarity andcomplementarities in trading items and to curbrestrictions on trade of the developing world.Today, 120 regional trade blocs generate 52 percent of the world trade. These trading blocsdeveloped as a response to the failure of the globalorganisations to speed up intra-regional trade.

Though, these regional blocs remove tradetariffs within the member nations and

Think of some reasons why dumping is becoming aserious concern among trading nations?

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encourage free trade, in the future it could getincreasingly difficult for free trade to take place

between different trading blocs. Some majorregional trade blocs have been listed in Table 9.3.

Table 9.3: Major Regional Trade

RegionalBlocs

ASEAN(Association ofSouth East AsianNations)

CIS(Commonwealthof IndependentStates)

EU(European Union)

LAIA(Latin AmericanIntegrationAssociation)

NAFTA(North AmericanFree TradeAssociation)

OPEC(Organisation ofPetroleumExportingCountries)

SAFTA(South AsianFree TradeAgreement)

HeadQuarter

Jakarta,Indonesia

Minsk,Belarus

Brussels,Belgium

Montevideo,Uruguay

Vienna,Austria

Membernations

Brunei,Indonesia,Malaysia,Singapore,Thailand,Vietnam

Armenia,Azerbaijan,Belarus, Georgia,Kazakhstan,Kyrgyzstan,Moldova, Russia,Tajikistan,Turkmenistan,Ukraine andUzbekistan.

Austria, Belgium,Denmark,France, Finland,Ireland, Italy, theNetherlands,Luxemburg,Portugal, Spain,Sweden and U.K.

Argentina, Bolivia,Brazil, Columbia,Ecuador, Mexico,Paraguay, Peru,Uruguay andVenezuela

U.S.A., Canadaand Mexico

Algeria,Indonesia, Iran,Iraq, Kuwait,Libya, Nigeria,Qatar, SaudiArabia, U.A.E.and Venezuela

Bangladesh,Maldives, Bhutan,Nepal, India,Pakistan and SriLanka

Origin

Aug, 1967

—

EEC-March 1957EU - Feb. 1992

1960

1994

1949

Jan-2006

Commodities

Agro products,rubber, palm oil,rice, copra,coffee, minerals –copper, coal,nickel andtungsten. Energy– petroleum andnatural gas andSoftwareproducts

Crude oil, naturalgas, gold, cotton,fibre, aluminium

Agro products,minerals,chemicals, wood,paper, transportvehicles, opticalinstruments,clocks - works ofart, antiques

—

Agro products,motor vehicles,automotive parts,computers,textiles

Crude petroleum

—

Other Areasof

Cooperation

Accelerateeconomicgrowth,culturaldevelopment,peace andregionalstability

Integrationandcooperation onmatters ofeconomics,defence andforeign policy

Single marketwith singlecurrency

—

—

Coordinateand unifypetroleumpolicies.

Reduce tariffson inter-regional trade

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Concerns Related to International Trade

Undertaking international trade is mutuallybeneficial to nations if it leads to regionalspecialisation, higher level of production, betterstandard of living, worldwide availability ofgoods and services, equalisation of prices andwages and diffusion of knowledge and culture.

International trade can prove to bedetrimental to nations of it leads to dependenceon other countries, uneven levels ofdevelopment, exploitation, and commercialrivalry leading to wars. Global trade affectsmany aspects of life; it can impact everythingfrom the environment to health and well-beingof the people around the world. As countriescompete to trade more, production and the useof natural resources spiral up, resources getused up faster than they can be replenished.As a result, marine life is also depleting fast,forests are being cut down and river basins soldoff to private drinking water companies. Multi-national corporations trading in oil, gas mining,pharmaceuticals and agri-business keepexpanding their operations at all costs creatingmore pollution – their mode of work does notfollow the norms of sustainable development.If organisations are geared only towards profitmaking, and environmental and healthconcerns are not addressed, then it could leadto serious implications in the future.

GATEWAYS OF INTERNATIONAL TRADEGATEWAYS OF INTERNATIONAL TRADEGATEWAYS OF INTERNATIONAL TRADEGATEWAYS OF INTERNATIONAL TRADEGATEWAYS OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE

Ports

The chief gateways of the world of internationaltrade are the harbours and ports. Cargoes andtravellers pass from one part of the world toanother through these ports.

The ports provide facilities of docking,loading, unloading and the storage facilities forcargo. In order to provide these facilities, theport authorities make arrangements formaintaining navigable channels, arranging tugsand barges, and providing labour andmanagerial services. The importance of a portis judged by the size of cargo and the numberof ships handled. The quantity of cargo handledby a port is an indicator of the level ofdevelopment of its hinterland.

Fig. 9.5: San Francisco, the largest land-lockedharbour in the world

Types of Port

Generally, ports are classified according to thetypes of traffic which they handle.Types of port according to cargo handled:(i) Industrial Ports: These ports specialise in

bulk cargo-like grain, sugar, ore, oil,chemicals and similar materials.

(ii) Commercial Ports: These ports handlegeneral cargo-packaged products andmanufactured good. These ports alsohandle passenger traffic.

Fig. 9.6: Leningrad Commercial Port

(iii) Comprehensive Ports: Such ports handlebulk and general cargo in large volumes.

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Most of the world’s great ports areclassified as comprehensive ports.

Types of port on the basis of location:

(i) Inland Ports: These ports are located awayfrom the sea coast. They are linked to thesea through a river or a canal. Such portsare accessible to flat bottom ships orbarges. For example, Manchester is linkedwith a canal; Memphis is located on theriver Mississippi; Rhine has several portslike Mannheim and Duisburg; andKolkata is located on the river Hoogli, abranch of the river Ganga.

(ii) Out Ports: These are deep water ports builtaway from the actual ports. These servethe parent ports by receiving those shipswhich are unable to approach them dueto their large size. Classic combination,for example, is Athens and its out portPiraeus in Greece.

Types of port on the basis of specialisedfunctions:

(i) Oil Ports: These ports deal in theprocessing and shipping of oil. Some ofthese are tanker ports and some arerefinery ports. Maracaibo in Venezuela,Esskhira in Tunisia, Tripoli in Lebanon are

tanker ports. Abadan on the Gulf of Persiais a refinery port.

(ii) Ports of Call: These are the ports whichoriginally developed as calling points onmain sea routes where ships used toanchor for refuelling, watering and takingfood items. Later on, they developed intocommercial ports. Aden, Honolulu andSingapore are good examples.

(iii) Packet Station: These are also known asferry ports. These packet stations areexclusively concerned with thetransportation of passengers and mailacross water bodies covering shortdistances. These stations occur in pairslocated in such a way that they face eachother across the water body, e.g. Dover inEngland and Calais in France across theEnglish Channel.

(iv) Entrepot Ports: These are collection centreswhere the goods are brought from differentcountries for export. Singapore is anentrepot for Asia. Rotterdam for Europe,and Copenhagen for the Baltic region.

(v) Naval Ports: These are ports which haveonly strategic importance. These portsserve warships and have repair workshopsfor them. Kochi and Karwar are examplesof such ports in India.

EXERCISESEXERCISESEXERCISESEXERCISESEXERCISES

1 . Choose the right answer from the four alternatives given below.(i) Most of the world’s great ports are classified as:

(a) Naval Ports (c) Comprehensive Ports

(b) Oil Ports (d) Industrial Ports

(ii) Which one of the following continents has the maximum flow of globaltrade?

(a) Asia (c) Europe

(b) North America (d) Africa

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Fundamentals of Human Geography90

(iii) Which one of the following South American nation, is a part of OPEC?

(a) Brazil (c) Venezuela

(b) Chile (d) Peru

(iv) In which of the following trade blocs, is India an associate member?

(a) SAFTA (c) ASEAN

(b) OECD (d) OPEC2 . Answer the following questions in about 30 words:

(i) What is the basic function of the World Trade Organisation?

(ii) Why is it detrimental for a nation to have negative balance of payments?

(iii) What benefits do nations get by forming trading blocs?3 . Answer the following questions in not more than 150 words:

(i) How are ports helpful for trade? Give a classification of ports on the basisof their location.

(ii) How do nations gain from International Trade?

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