[Edit this paragraph] Overview of international trade

1, what is international trade?

International trade refers to the exchange of goods and services between different countries (and/or regions). International trade is the international transfer of goods and services. International trade is also called world trade.

International trade consists of import trade and export trade, so it is sometimes called import and export trade.

From a country's perspective, international trade is foreign trade.

2. How did international trade come into being?

International trade is produced and developed under specific historical conditions. The two basic conditions for the formation of international trade are:

(1) the development of social productive forces;

(2) the formation of the country.

The development of social productive forces produces surplus commodities for exchange, which are exchanged between countries and produce international trade.

3, the difference between international trade and foreign trade

Foreign trade refers to the exchange of goods, technologies and services between a country (or region) and other countries (or regions). Therefore, when referring to foreign trade, we should point out specific countries. For example, the foreign trade of China; Some island countries, such as Britain and Japan, also call foreign trade overseas.

[Edit this paragraph] International trade classification

First of all, according to the direction of commodity movement, international trade can be divided into

1. Import trade: importing foreign goods or services to the domestic market for sale.

2. Export trade: exporting domestic goods or services to foreign markets for sale.

3. entrepot trade: the goods of country A are transported to the market of country B through the territory of country C, which is entrepot trade to country C. At present, WTO members do not engage in transit trade because transit trade hinders international trade.

Import trade and export trade are both export trade for both sides of each transaction and import trade for the buyer. In addition, goods imported into China become re-exported when exported; When goods exported abroad are imported into China, they are called re-import.

Second, according to the form of goods, international trade can be divided into

1. Tangible trade: the import and export of goods in kind. Such as machines, equipment, furniture, etc. They are all goods in physical form, and the import and export of these goods is called visible trade.

2. Invisible trade: the import and export of technologies and services without physical form. Transfer of patent use rights, transnational services provided by tourism, financial and insurance enterprises, etc. They are all goods without physical form, and their import and export are called invisible trade.

Three, according to the relationship between producing countries and consuming countries in trade, international trade can be divided into

1. Direct trade: refers to the behavior of commodity producing countries and commodity consuming countries buying and selling commodities without going through a third country. The exporting country of trade is called direct export, and the importing country is called direct import.

2. Indirect trade and entrepot trade: refers to the behavior of commodity producers and consumers buying and selling commodities through third countries. In indirect trade, producers are called indirect exporters, consumers are called indirect importers, and third countries are entrepot traders, and third countries are engaged in entrepot trade.

For example, there are some business opportunities in post-war Iraq, but the risks are also great. When some Chinese enterprises export goods to Iraq, most of them first sell the goods to neighboring countries of Iraq, and then re-export them to Iraq from neighboring countries of Iraq.

[Edit this paragraph] The main features of international trade

International trade in goods belongs to the category of commodity exchange, which is not different from domestic trade in nature, but because it is carried out between different countries or regions, it has the following characteristics compared with domestic trade:

1. International trade in goods involves possible differences and conflicts in policies, measures and legal systems of different countries or regions, as well as differences brought about by language, culture and social customs;

2. The continuous progress of science and technology, including transportation, refrigeration technology and heavy cargo ships, provides the necessary conditions for long-distance trade;

The two world wars broke the original colonial system and established the United Nations and WTO, which created conditions for free competition among countries.

4, the continuous progress of human thought, including economic theory and human rights theory.

The main contents of international trade:

1, the basic content of international trade

2. Relevant statistical indicators of international trade

3. RMB value and import and export trade

4. Classical trade theory

5. The transition from classical trade theory to modern trade theory.

6. Modern trade theory

7. New trade theory

8. Tariff (1)

9. Tariffs (2)

10, non-tariff measures

1 1, unfair trade

12, regional economic integration (1)

13, regional economic integration (2)

14, international trade in services

15, international science and technology gold trading

16, the historical origin of WTO

17

18, WTO (World Trade Organization)

19, basic principles of the WTO

WTO and China.

2 1, Opportunities and Challenges of China's Entry into WTO

22. International trade

[Edit this paragraph] Overview of international trade settlement

Payment settlement often occurs in international trade to solve the creditor-debtor relationship between buyers and sellers, which is called international trade settlement. International trade settlement is a tangible trade settlement based on the transaction of goods and currency.

Bill type

Bills used in international trade include bills of exchange, promissory notes and checks, and bills of exchange are mainly used.

draft

It is a written unconditional payment order issued by one person to another, asking the other party (the person who accepts the order) to pay a certain amount to someone, a designated person or a ticket holder immediately or regularly or at some time in the future. Bills of exchange can be divided into the following categories:

Depending on the drawer-bank draft, commercial draft.

A bank draft is a draft in which both the drawer and the payer are banks.

A commercial bill refers to a bill in which the drawee is an enterprise legal person, company, firm or individual and the drawee is another firm, individual or bank.

Depending on whether documents are attached-clean bills and documentary bills.

Clean bills/bills of exchange are not accompanied by shipping documents, and bank bills are mostly clean bills.

Documentary draft, also known as letter of credit and bill of lading, is a kind of foreign exchange that can only be paid by bills of lading, warehouse receipts, insurance policies, packing lists, commercial invoices and other documents. Commercial bills are mostly documentary bills, which are often used in international trade.

According to the time of payment, sight draft, time draft

Sight bill (demand bill) refers to the bill that the holder pays immediately after presenting the bill to the payer, also known as sight bill.

A time draft (forward draft) is paid after a certain period or a specific date. In a time draft, a certain date is recorded as the maturity date, and if it is paid on the maturity date, it is a time draft, and if it is paid within a certain period after the date of issue, it is a time draft; If payment is recorded within a certain period after sight, it is a promissory note; If the par value is divided into several parts and the maturity date is specified respectively, it is an installment bill.

According to the acceptor-commercial acceptance bill, bank acceptance bill

A commercial acceptance bill is a long-term bill with any enterprise or individual other than a bank as the acceptor.

Bank acceptance bill (bank acceptance bill) The acceptor is the bank's time draft.

According to the circulation area-domestic draft and international draft.

(of a bank) a cashier's check

It is a certificate issued by one person to another person to ensure that he will unconditionally pay a certain amount to the holder when he sees the ticket or in the foreseeable future. Promissory notes can be divided into commercial promissory notes and bank promissory notes. Commercial promissory notes are promissory notes issued by industrial and commercial enterprises or individuals, also known as general promissory notes. Commercial promissory notes can be divided into spot commercial notes and forward commercial notes, which generally do not meet the conditions of rediscount, especially the forward promissory notes issued by small and medium-sized enterprises or individuals, which are difficult to circulate because of low credit guarantee. Cashier's checks are all at sight. Most promissory notes used in international trade settlement are bank promissory notes.

cheque

This is a sight draft drawn by the bank. Specifically, it is a bill issued by the drawer (bank depositor) to the bank (payer), which requires the bank to pay at sight. When issuing a cheque, the drawer shall deposit a deposit not equal to the face value in the paying bank. If the deposit is insufficient, the holder will refuse to pay. This kind of check is called a bad check. The drawer who writes a bad check is responsible. Inspection can be divided into:

Registered check: the drawer indicates "paid to someone" and "paid to someone or their designee" in the payee column. When a cheque is transferred or circulated, it must be endorsed by the holder, and the payee must sign on the back when withdrawing money.

Bearer check: also known as blank check, marked "payable to bearer" in the header column. This check can be transferred without endorsement, and you don't have to sign on the back to withdraw money.

Crossed check: Draw two parallel horizontal lines on the front of the check. The holder of this check can't withdraw cash, so he can only entrust the bank to collect money and put it into the account.

Guaranteed check: In order to prevent the drawer from writing a blank check, the payee or holder may ask the paying bank to stamp the check with "Guaranteed Payment" to ensure the bank will pay at that time.

Transfer check: the drawer or holder writes "transfer payment" on the ordinary check to limit the payment by the paying bank.

clearing form

Letter of credit settlement, remittance and collection settlement, bank guarantee and the combination of various settlement methods.

A. Letter of credit settlement method

Letter of credit (L/C for short) is the product of bank credit participating in the settlement of international sales price of goods. Its appearance not only solved the contradiction of mutual distrust between buyers and sellers to a certain extent, but also made it convenient for both parties to obtain bank financing in the process of settlement of payment by letter of credit, thus promoting the development of international trade. Therefore, it is widely used in international trade, so that it has become a major settlement method in international trade today.

A letter of credit is a conditional payment commitment made by a bank, that is, a written document issued by a bank to the beneficiary with a certain amount and provisions according to the applicant's requirements and instructions, promising to pay within a certain period of time; Or a guarantee that the bank is willing to underwrite the beneficiary's draft on behalf of the applicant under the specified amount, date and documentary conditions. It belongs to bank credit and adopts reverse exchange method.

B. remittance and payment settlement methods

Remittance and collection are commonly used payment methods in international trade.

A. Remittance: also known as remittance, is a settlement method in which the payer remits the money to the payee through various settlement tools through the bank. It belongs to commercial credit and adopts the downstream method. Remittance business involves four parties: payer (remitter), payee (payee or beneficiary), remittance bank and collection bank. Among them, there is a contractual relationship between the payer (usually the importer) and the remittance bank (the bank entrusted with remittance), and there is an agency contractual relationship between the remittance bank and the remittance bank (the agent bank of the remittance bank). When handling remittance business, the remitter needs to fill in the remittance application form to the remittance bank, and the remittance bank is obliged to issue a payment letter to the remittance bank according to the instructions of the remittance application form; After receiving the accounting instruction, the remitting bank is obliged to remit the payment to the payee (usually the exporter). However, the remitting bank and the collecting bank are not responsible for the losses caused by their own fault (such as the loss or delay of the mailing power of attorney, which leads to the payee's inability or delay in receiving the money), and the remitting bank is not responsible for the work fault of the remitting bank.

B collection: after the goods are shipped, the exporter draws a draft drawn on the importer (with or without shipping documents) and entrusts the bank at the place of export to collect the payment on behalf of the importer through its branch or correspondent bank at the place of import. It belongs to commercial credit and adopts reverse exchange method. The parties to the collection method include the principal, the collecting bank, the collecting bank and the payer. Principal, that is, the person who draws a draft abroad and entrusts the bank to pay for the collection, also known as the drawer, is usually an exporter; The remitting bank is the export bank entrusted by the exporter to collect money on its behalf; The collecting bank, that is, the importing bank entrusted by the collecting bank to represent the payer in payment collection; Payer (drawee or drawee), the drawee on a bill of exchange is the drawee of collection, usually the importer. Among the above parties, the principal and the collecting bank, the collecting bank and the collecting bank are all principal-agent relationships, but there is no legal relationship between the payer and the collecting bank, and the payer pays according to the sales contract. Therefore, whether the consignor can receive the payment depends entirely on the importer's reputation, and neither the collecting bank nor the collecting bank is responsible. When handling the collection business, the client shall submit a collection power of attorney to the collecting bank, which contains various instructions, and the collecting bank and even the collecting bank shall notify the payer to pay for the collection according to the entrusted instructions.

C. Bank guarantee (L/G), also known as bank guarantee, bank guarantee or short letter of guarantee, refers to the written certificate issued by the bank to the beneficiary at the request of the customer to ensure that the applicant will perform the contract according to the regulations, otherwise the bank will be responsible for the payment.

D. Combination of multiple settlement methods: In international trade business, only one settlement method can be used for payment and settlement of a transaction (usually), or two or more settlement methods can be combined as needed, such as different commodities, different trading objects and different trading practices, which may be beneficial to facilitating transactions, collecting foreign exchange safely and timely, or properly handling foreign exchange payments. Common settlement methods include: combining letter of credit with remittance, combining letter of credit with collection, and combining remittance with bank guarantee or letter of credit.

A. combination of letter of credit and remittance

This refers to the payment of a transaction, part of which is paid by letter of credit and the rest is settled by remittance. This combination of settlement methods is often used in the transaction of some primary products, and the delivery quantity of these primary products allows a certain degree of flexibility. In this regard, with the consent of both parties, the letter of credit stipulates that the invoice amount should be paid in advance against the shipping documents or a certain percentage of the amount should be paid before the goods are shipped, and the balance should be paid by remittance according to the actual quantity after the goods arrive at the destination (port) or after the re-inspection. To use this combination form, we must first make clear what kind of letter of credit and remittance methods are used, and the proportion of the amount paid according to the letter of credit.

B. combination of letter of credit and collection

This refers to the payment of a transaction, part of which is paid by letter of credit and the rest is settled by collection. The specific practice of this combination form is usually: the letter of credit stipulates that the beneficiary (exporter) opens two drafts, part of the payment under the letter of credit is paid by clean bill, and the rest is attached to the draft for collection, and the collection adopts the method of D/P at sight or forward. This practice is safer for exporters to collect foreign exchange, and can reduce the deposit for importers, which is acceptable to both parties. However, the letter of credit must indicate the type of letter of credit, the amount of payment and the type of collection method, and must also indicate the clause that "documents can only be presented after the invoice amount is paid in full".

C. Remittance combined with bank guarantee or letter of credit

Remittance combined with bank guarantee or letter of credit is often used to settle the payment for complete sets of equipment, large machinery and large means of transport (aircraft, ships, etc.). ). This kind of products, with large transaction amount and long production cycle, often require the buyer to prepay part of the payment or deposit by remittance, and most of the rest will be paid in installments or late according to the provisions of the letter of credit or guarantee.

In addition, remittance is combined with collection, and collection is combined with standby letter of credit or bank guarantee. When we carry out foreign economic and trade business, we can decide which combination form to choose as appropriate.

Bill risk and its prevention

As an important payment voucher in international settlement, bills are widely used in the world. Due to the wide variety and different nature of bills, and the fact that most domestic residents rarely touch foreign bills and lack the ability of pan-discrimination, there are also many risks in the use of bills.

Bill risk

A. In terms of bill risk prevention, the following points should be noted:

1. Before the transaction is concluded, we must know the customer's credit status, be aware of it, and nip in the bud. Especially for those new customers with unknown credit information and those customers with tight foreign exchange, backward regions and unstable national situation.

2. Bills submitted by merchants must be reviewed by banks in advance to ensure the safety of foreign exchange collection.

Before the transaction is concluded, the buyer and the seller must sign a reliable, equal and mutually beneficial sales contract.

4. Before the bank has received the ticket, you can't deliver the goods too early, so as not to empty the payment.

Even if you receive a check from the most creditworthy bank in the world, it doesn't mean that you will definitely receive the payment in the future. In recent years, cases of fraudulent use of forged bills and remittance vouchers by foreign unscrupulous businessmen have occurred frequently in China, and the number of cases is on the rise, which should not be taken lightly.

B. Risks and prevention of bills of exchange

In the process of using bills of exchange, in addition to the above items, we should also pay attention to the principles that must be observed in issuing, accepting and using bills of exchange:

1. The company that uses the draft must be a legal person who opens an account in a bank;

2. The issuance of bills of exchange must be based on legal commodity transactions, and it is forbidden to issue bills of exchange without commodity transactions;

3. After the bill is accepted, the acceptor, that is, the payer, has the responsibility to pay the fare unconditionally;

4. Except for the discount to the bank, the draft shall not be circulated and transferred. (Note: This provision has been broken by later bank settlement methods).

C. How to distinguish between genuine and fake promissory notes

1. Real promissory notes are printed on special paper with good paper quality and certain anti-counterfeiting measures, while fake promissory notes can only be printed on ordinary paper with poor paper quality in the market, which is generally thinner and softer than the paper used for real promissory notes.

2. The ink formula for printing genuine promissory notes is confidential and it is difficult for fraudsters to obtain it. Therefore, it can only be printed with ink with similar colors, so that the face color of fake promissory notes is different from that of real promissory notes.

3. The numbers and fonts of genuine promissory notes are standardized and neat, and some fake promissory notes have irregular numbers and fonts and uneven intervals.

Because it is illegally printed, the signature on the fake promissory note must be false, which is inconsistent with the reserved signature held by the bank.

[Edit this paragraph] International trade settlement method

I. Mode of settlement by letter of credit

Letter of credit is the product of bank credit participating in the settlement of international sales price of goods. Its appearance not only solved the contradiction of mutual distrust between buyers and sellers to a certain extent, but also made it convenient for both parties to obtain bank financing in the process of settlement of payment by letter of credit, thus promoting the development of international trade. Therefore, it is widely used in international trade, so that it has become a major settlement method in international trade today.

Letter of credit is a conditional payment commitment made by the bank, that is, the bank issues a written certificate of a certain amount to the beneficiary with specified documents within a certain period of time according to the requirements and instructions of the applicant; Or a guarantee that the bank is willing to underwrite the beneficiary's draft on behalf of the applicant under the specified amount, date and documentary conditions. It belongs to bank credit and adopts reverse exchange method.

Two. Settlement method of remittance and collection

Remittance and collection are commonly used payment methods in international trade.

1. Remittance

Remittance, also known as remittance, is a settlement method in which the payer remits the money to the payee through various settlement tools through the bank. It belongs to commercial credit and adopts the downstream method. Remittance business involves four parties: payer (remitter), payee (payee or beneficiary), remittance bank and collecting bank. Among them, there is a contractual relationship between the payer (usually the importer) and the remittance bank (the bank entrusted with remittance), and there is an agency contractual relationship between the remittance bank and the remittance bank (the agent bank of the remittance bank).

When handling remittance business, the remitter needs to fill in the remittance application form to the remittance bank, and the remittance bank is obliged to issue a payment letter to the remittance bank according to the instructions of the remittance application form; After receiving the accounting instruction, the remitting bank is obliged to remit the payment to the payee (usually the exporter). However, the remitting bank and the collecting bank are not responsible for the losses caused by their own fault (such as the loss or delay of the payment bill in the mailing process, which leads to the payee's inability or delay in receiving the money), and the remitting bank is not responsible for the fault.

2. Collectibles

Collection is a settlement method in which the exporter draws a draft (with or without shipping documents) to the importer after the goods are shipped, and entrusts the bank at the place of export to collect the payment on behalf of the importer through its branch or agent bank at the place of import. It belongs to commercial credit and adopts reverse exchange method.

The parties to the collection method include the principal, the collecting bank, the collecting bank and the payer. Principal, that is, the person who draws a draft abroad and entrusts the bank to pay for the collection, also known as the drawer, is usually an exporter; The remitting bank is an export bank, accepting the entrustment of the exporter and collecting money on its behalf; The collecting bank, that is, the import bank that accepts the payment entrusted by the collecting bank on behalf of the payer; The drawee on a bill of exchange is the drawee of the collection, usually the importer.

Among the above parties, the principal and the collecting bank, the collecting bank and the collecting bank are all principal-agent relationships, but there is no legal relationship between the payer and the collecting bank, and the payer pays according to the sales contract. Therefore, whether the consignor can receive the payment depends entirely on the importer's reputation, and neither the collecting bank nor the collecting bank is responsible.

When handling the collection business, the client shall submit a collection power of attorney to the collecting bank, which contains various instructions, and the collecting bank and even the collecting bank shall notify the payer to pay for the collection according to the entrusted instructions.

3. Bank guarantee

Bank guarantee (L/G), also known as bank guarantee, bank guarantee or short letter of guarantee, refers to the written certificate issued by the bank to the beneficiary at the request of the customer to ensure that the applicant performs the contract according to the regulations, otherwise the bank will be responsible for paying off the debts.

4. Combination of multiple settlement methods

In international trade business, only one settlement method can be used for payment and settlement of a transaction (usually), and two or more settlement methods can also be used in combination as needed, such as different trading commodities, different trading objects and different trading practices, which is conducive to facilitating transactions, collecting foreign exchange safely and in time, or properly handling foreign exchange payments. Common settlement methods include: combining letter of credit with remittance, combining letter of credit with collection, and combining remittance with bank guarantee or letter of credit.

[Edit this paragraph] Parallel imports in international trade

In recent years, with the increasingly close relationship between intellectual property rights and international trade, many complex problems have emerged in the cross-cutting field of international trade and international protection of intellectual property rights. Parallel import is a typical international trade problem caused by intellectual property protection.

The so-called parallel import generally refers to whether the intellectual property right holder or the exclusive licensee has the right to prohibit the legally produced products from being imported from abroad, that is, in international trade, the party legally holding intellectual property products imports the products into the intellectual property protection country through legal channels and sells them without the consent of the relevant intellectual property right holder in the importing country. In essence, parallel import reflects the conflict between intellectual property trade and goods trade, and the contradiction between intellectual property protection and international trade liberalization, which is gradually becoming a hot spot of concern and controversy.

In fact, whether from the perspective of legal provisions or judicial protection, China's legal regulation of parallel imports is still in an immature state. At the international level, China is a signatory to the World Trade Organization and the World Intellectual Property Organization, and has concluded and participated in a series of important international intellectual property protection treaties, such as the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, the madrid agreement concerning the international registration of marks, the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, and the Agreement on Trade-related Intellectual Property Rights. These treaties basically do not deal with parallel imports, or leave this part of the problem to the parties themselves. In this way, the legal problems related to parallel import in China are mainly solved according to domestic laws. The three basic laws of intellectual property rights in China, namely, the Patent Law, the Copyright Law and the Trademark Law, do not involve the issue of "parallel import". Similarly, China's anti-unfair competition law, foreign trade law, customs law and other laws that should have involved parallel imports have not involved this field.

At present, there is no legal basis for parallel import in China, which leads to the phenomenon of parallel import in real life far more than bringing a lawsuit to the court. Intellectual property owners have no way to define their rights, nor do they know our attitude towards parallel imports. In the past few years, because China is a developing country, the production cost of products is low, and the high tariff policy has been adopted for imported goods before, so parallel imports to China are rare. However, from the development trend of international trade, the possibility of parallel import is increasing. For example, the reduction of trade barriers in China will open the door for existing commodities with potential parallel import trends. The sharp reduction of tariffs and quotas, on the one hand, greatly reduces the transaction costs of parallel importers and increases the possibility of parallel imports; On the other hand, it also turns the parallel products that originally entered China through smuggling channels into regular channels, increasing the flow of parallel imports. In addition, due to the weakening of import quota license and market access, enterprises' right to operate foreign trade will be realized, which also prepares the institutional premise for the occurrence of parallel import in China. Moreover, from a global perspective, there are many parallel import disputes caused by Chinese enterprises as exporters exporting intellectual property products abroad. Therefore, enterprises must pay enough attention to the problem of parallel import in international trade. It is an inevitable trend for China to systematically identify and standardize parallel imports. Before the establishment of the system, enterprises should have a necessary understanding of the basic meaning and possible consequences of parallel import, so as to make reasonable business decisions on the basis of fully estimating various market risks.