Theme 2. International business

Theme 2.1. International Trade Grammar: The Infinitive

Terms to remember:

international trade ,consume (v), unobtainable, domestic, living standard, protectionist measures (протекціоністські заходи), tariff, quota, exchange control (валютне регулювання), national producer, barrier, free trade

International Trade

International trade is the exchange of goods and services between countries. It enables countries to obtain some goods and services more cheaply than they could produce them for themselves or to consume goods and services which would otherwise be unobtainable from domestic supply sources.

Through international trade countries can improve their living standards. International trade keeps domestic prices down by creating competition at home and provides large markets abroad.

Governments can control international trade. The most common protectionist measures are tariffs, quotas, exchange controls. They raise the price of imported goods to protect national producers.

The international trade that takes place without barriers such as tariffs, quotas and exchange controls is called free trade.

Free trade area is a form of trade integration between a number of countries, in which members eliminate all trade barriers among themselves

Exercises in Word Study

Ex.1. Form nouns from the following verbs:

produce, consume, improve, control, protect, integrate, eliminate, operate, supply.

Ex.2. Give the English for:

Міжнародна торгівля; покращувати життєвий рівень; контролювати міжнародну торгівлю; протекціоністські заходи; валютне регулювання; підвищувати ціни на імпортні товари; захищати національного виробника; вільна торгівля; усувати всі торгові бар’єри.

Ex.3. Match words from list A with words from list B that have a similar meaning:

A	Obtain produce consume domestic raise protect barrier
B	obstacle defend internal elevate use up manufacture get

Ex.4. Find suitable opposites to following words and phrases:

domestic; cheaply; obtainable; to raise the price; international trade.

Ex.5. Match the nouns with the verbs

Tariffs quotas barriers

remove raise eliminate abolish impose pay exceed operate fix

Ex.6. The words in the box frequently occur before and after "trade".

Foreign, deficit, mark, restriction, creditor, fair, domestic, association, discount, bloc

Find combinations that mean:

1. trade between buyers/sellers in one country and sellers/buyers in other countries;

2. trade between buyers and sellers in the same country;

3. an organization of producers or sellers of similar products that provides advice, information and services for its members;

4. a group of countries that agree to trade with each other on favourable terms;

5. a person or business that has supplied goods or services to a company and is owed money for them;

6. the amount by which the value of a country's imports is greater than the value of its exports;

7. an amount that is taken off the normal selling price of a product;

8. a big exhibition where manufacturers and sellers display their goods;

9. a name or symbol that is used on the products of a particular company;

10. an action taken by a government to limit the amount or type of goods imported or exported, usually by introducing taxes and tariffs.

Ex.7. Look at the words and phrases in the box. Match them with the correct definition from the list below:

Domestic protectionism exchange control free trade tariff barrier guota living standard

1. the level of material comfort and wealth that a person or a community has;

2. an amount that must be paid when particular goods are imported into a country, or sometimes when they are exported;

3. a limit on the amount of a particular good that may be imported into a country during a given period of time;

4. a set of restrictions imposed by a government on buying and selling foreign currencies;

5. an obstacle;

6. trade between countries with few government restrictions;

7. a system of import controls set up by a government to protect the country's agriculture and industry from foreign competition;

8. inside a particular country.

Ex. 8. Write the appropriate word or phrase in the following spaces. Translate the sentences into Ukrainian.

national producer; free; barriers; exchange controls; quota; tariff; living standard; international

1. The country depends on ... trade.

2. I hope this new job will give me a better ....

3. ... barriers can make trade difficult.

4. The government fixed a ... on the number of foreign cars allowed to be sold in the USA.

5. The United Kingdom removed all ... long time ago.

6. The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is an international organization whose goal is to eliminate tariffs and other ... to international trade.

7. ... trade among nations results in increased competition and lower prices.

8. This company is the largest... of steel.

Ex.9. Fill in the missing prepositions: (on, of (4), by, from, with)

A foreign-exchange control is a restriction ... the amount ... a particular currency that can be purchased or sold. ... limiting the amount ... foreign currency that importers can obtain, a government limits the amount ... goods that importers can purchase ... that currency. This has the effect ... limiting imports ... the country whose foreign exchange is being controlled.

Ex.10. These words are often confused: to raise - to rise

Complete these sentences using the correct form of one of the words above. Make your own sentences to show that you understand the difference in their meaning.

1. The oil prices... by 20% this month.

2. We are trying to ... money to build a new computer centre.

3. My boss just... my salary by 5%.

4. The company ... a mortgage to fund the new factory.

5. My parents ... two sons.

6. Prices are ... at an alarming rate.

7. Sales have ... by 8% this quarter.

8. We have ... our profit levels by 10 %.

9. West European car sales ... from 1 to 1,5 million.

10. She ... the question of overtime payments.

11. They managed to ... sufficient capital to keep the company buoyant.

12. His sales report... some valuable points.

13. They'll have to ... their offer before we accept.

14. He ... to his feet and left the office.