Posts in International Business
Looking For The Perfect Market For Your Business? Read This First.

We have discussed the social and cultural Factors before, but make sure you know what the literacy rate is and the average educational level in the country? If you are selling to or your product is designed for the middle class, make sure there actually is a middle class that would support your product?

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Outsourcing: Is It A Good Idea For Your Business?

So outsourcing is not just international, not just for the largest corporations and not just for saving money why then do some companies skip outsourcing?

A lot of companies don't outsource simply because they don't even realize the option is there. Without a creative mind on your team - it can sometimes be difficult to discover any way that outsourcing could be helpful. Ever heard of Influencer Marketing?

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Trade Agreements: Why Are They Important?

When imports enter a country they normally have a tariff or a tax. So for example: when you are purchasing an item from France it’s more expensive because of a duty that the importer had to pay for it to come in. When a Trade Agreement is negotiated there is an elimination of that tax then the import comes in freely and the item may be less expensive than one you could purchase in the United States. If too many of those items are coming in then there may be concerns that there needs to be protection of that industry.

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International Negotiations: Cultural Nuance

When I think of how to begin the negotiation of a contract in a different culture, I first want to make sure that I know something about the culture. Generally, how 85% of the people act, think, and behave. "What is important to them? " I ask myself. Inevitably, I read about the culture, the history, talk to people who have done business in the culture and most definitely go to visit the place when possible.

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NAFTA: Could It Be Lost?

In order to decrease fears of US litigation, or any long drawn out litigation, for that matter, NAFTA has "dispute resolution panels." These panels look at whether or not the NAFTA countries participant is being treated fairly. Under President Trump, the US has claimed that "US court's sovereignty is eroded." He would do away with the panel altogether. Canada and Mexico want to keep them of course.

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Cuban Sanctions: What You Need To Know

The Sanctions, under President Obama, the first U.S. President to visit since the embargo, authorized specific licenses for travel conditions and other transactions directly related to attendance or professional meetings in Cuba. This did not change the sanctions, but simply softened them. With a change of policy came diplomatic travel which included increase in tourist industries; with U.S. businesses going in and Cuban entrepreneurs opening up their homes for restaurants and cars for joyrides.

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Cuba: Women In Business

Part of the reason why travel to Cuba is so expensive now that the travel and trade bans have been modified is that the embargo that was placed in the year 1961, is still very much codified in U.S. legislation. As a result, there are a number of regulatory restrictions in place that are projected to take several more years to dismantle. While these regulations are in place, all business people interested in doing business in Cuba have to carefully side-step the minefield of restrictions – which can be a slight deterrent to commerce.

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Safer International Shopping

Commercial letters of credit have been used for centuries to enhance payment in international trade. It is a contractual agreement between banks, known as the issuing bank, on behalf of one of its customers, authorizing another bank, known as the advising or confirming bank, to make payment to the beneficiary.

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International Trademark Rights

You should consider registering your mark in any country in which you currently offer your products or services under that mark. You should also consider filing in those countries where you intend to use the mark for your products or services in the future. The use of a mark is not a prerequisite for filing an application in most countries; however, some countries do have use requirements.

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Made In China?

The main contributor to the Chinese GDP is manufacturing. “Made in China” used to mean “low-cost labor stuff.” China has now transformed itself and although fewer products may be made in China, they are still within the region and Chinese products will be slightly more expensive.

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