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Business Owner's ManualInternational TradeFinding international trade statistics, doing market research on export markets, and pursuing trade leads represent a particular challenge for the small business owner/exporter. Often, there are limited sources available for much of this information. In this section we will discuss several indispensable print, electronic, and Internet resources for finding more information about international trade. All of these resources are available free of charge at the Science, Industry, and Business Library. SOURCES: Weiben Wang, SIBL International Trade Team RESEARCHING YOUR MARKETAs in the domestic market, in order to sell your product, you have to find people who want to buy it. If want your business to have an active export program, you will want to have some idea where your product is likely to sell well, and how much it might sell. To do that, you will have to do market research. Market research can help you determine the largest or fastest growing markets for your product, and market trends, outlook, and practices in a particular place. Look at the Marketing Your Business section of the Business Owner's Manual for more information on how to effectively research and analyze your prospective market.
Resources Market research on domestic markets can sometimes be difficult to find in a library. And marketing information about foreign countries is rarer still. The National Trade Data Bank, an electronic database available at the Science, Industry and Business Library, is a unique and invaluable source of marketing information about foreign countries, and offers reports compiled largely by U.S. embassies and trade offices abroad. Much of this information is not available elsewhere. The following sections can be accessed from the National Trade Data Bank: Industry Sector Analysis (ISA) Reports ISA Reports cover products or industries in a particular country. These reports are generally quite long (20 pages or more) and in depth. Such extensive information on a foreign market is usually available no where else. These reports are arranged primarily by date and are updated daily, but, as in all parts of the NTDB, you can do key word searches, which allows you to search by product or country or both. International Market Insight (IMI) Reports IMI Reports are also arranged by date (key word searches are possible), but are more eclectic, and generally much shorter. They offer brief (generally a few pages) reports on economic, social, and political climate and events in foreign countries, as well as short market research reports on particular products. Market Research Reports (IMI & ISA Historical) These are cumulative compilations by country of the IMI and ISA reports mentioned above. FINDING EXPORT STATISTICS & TRADE LEADS Part of doing market research for foreign trade includes finding export statistics. You will eventually need to know how much of which products are exported and to which countries. Researching the export statistics for your product or commodity is an important step in establishing whether your fledgeling export idea is feasible and in drafting a business plan if you intend to seek funding from a bank or other source. The Science, Industry, and Business Library (SIBL) offers access to three electronic databases of export/import statistical information produced by the U.S. Department of Commerce and the U.S. Bureau of the Census. They are available by reserving a workstation in the Electronic Information Center at SIBL. These databases are:
Exports and export statistics are often categorized in these databases by Harmonized Tariff Schedule number, and these numbers are the most precise way of identifying your product. While it is possible to search for a product by key word, it is often more precise and efficient to use the Tariff Schedule number. You can find these in print in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (available in the library) and on the Internet from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection's Importing & Exporting site, or from the U.S. International Trade Commission. Using STAT-USA To obtain export/import statistics from STAT-USA, click on any of the links under the heading, "International Trade Statistics." You can search for export statistics by either commodity or country of destination. If you have chosen to search by commodity, you can scroll through the commodities which are listed by International Harmonized Schedule or you can search by keyword such as "furniture" or "spices" by clicking on the link at the top of the page labeled "Search." Both the dollar value and the unit of quantity is provided for the export commodity by world total and also by individual country for the past five calendar years and year-to-date for the current and previous years. This is the quickest, easiest way of obtaining an overall picture of the market for your particular commodity or product. You can either print out your search results or download them to your own disk. However, you cannot further customize the information. Customizable export statistics can be obtained from the following database.
Using USA Trade This database provides detailed U.S. export and import statistics. It allows the user to create customized statistical reports by commodity, country of destination, U.S. port of departure, and time period, ranked by either increasing or decreasing dollar value or unit of quantity. It is a Web-based, subscription database which is not freely available on the Internet. It can, however, be accessed for free at the Science, Industry and Business Library. To use this database, you must sign up for a networked computer at the library. After you have opened USA Trade at your reserved workstation, you will see the database's main entry page. At the starting page of USA Trade, select time period in which you are interested by highlighting it with your cursor and clicking on "OK." At the next display, you must then search for your commodity by either scrolling through the International Harmonized Schedule or you can search by commodity keyword by using the drop down menu under the heading Dimension in the Menu Bar. This will give you the total world value of the export of that commodity from the United States. You can further tailor your report to provide the export value of your commodity to a particular country or you can even generate a report of the top export market countries for your commodity ranked by either decreasing dollar value or unit of quantity. It is even possible to limit your report to the total value of your commodity shipped from a particular United States port. You can then either print out your search results or download them to your own disk.
Using U.S. Exports of Merchandise This export data is provided through the library by the U.S. Dept. of Commerce on a searchable CD-ROM, which can be accessed at the library. Even though search results from this database (unlike USA Trade) cannot be customized, this database is very useful because it allows you to compare export statistics for a particular commodity from foreign countries with those from the United States. It is also unique among the three databases in that it provides statistics of what dollar value or unit of quantity amount of a commodity has been shipped by air and/or by vessel. You can search by commodity keyword or by International Harmonized Schedule code number for statistics for the current month, year-to-date, or past five calendar years. This database is only available for searching from a workstation within the library. A librarian can help you get started using this database. You can either print out your search results or download them to your own disk.
Finding Trade Leads Once you have decided that your product will sell in a particular place, you must then find actual buyers. Methods of identifying buyers include trade shows, trade missions, direct mail campaigns, and advertising. You may eventually need an in-country presence through a representative or distributor. However, trade shows and trade leads may be simpler ways of initially reaching potential customers, and the library can assist you in researching both of these areas.
There are a myriad of trade shows, both in the U.S. and abroad, where buyers and sellers can come together to discuss business, and sellers can display their wares. There are organizations on the Web that can help you find trade shows, among them Trade Show Central and the Federation of International Trade Associations. The library also has several print directories of trade shows, including Trade Shows Worldwide. Through its "Trade Opportunity Program Leads" and "United Nations Trade Leads," the NTDB offers notices for particular businesses, agencies, and other organizations both in the U.S. and abroad. Each trade lead entry describes the item needed, the buyer, contact information, and how to make a bid. The leads are arranged by date, and are meant to be scanned regularly. However, as in all parts of NTDB you can do a keyword search by country, product, or both. FACILITATION: FOREIGN BUSINESS PRACTICES When doing business abroad, you will likely need the assistance of third parties to help you get your business done. They can help you find customers, make deals, and finally transport your goods abroad and clear them through customs.
Freight Forwarders The process of actually moving your goods overseas can be quite complicated. You must be concerned with packing, labeling, documentation, insurance, and both foreign and domestic regulations. While you should understand the logistics of export, you will almost certainly need the services of a freight forwarder who handles most of the details for you.
Customs Brokers Once the goods are in the foreign port, a customs broker there can help to get them through customs by handling the necessary paperwork, documentation, etc. Your local U.S. Department of Commerce office, Chamber of Commerce, trade associations, international departments of banks, or an international trade specialist can help direct you to reputable freight forwards. As a start, you can also consult several directories available at the library:
Regulations and Foreign Business Practices When you do business in foreign country, you must of course abide by the laws and regulations of that country, and when you export you must contend with that country's tariffs, import regulations, and documentation requirements. Details of foreign regulations are very hard to obtain, and, as mentioned above, it is the responsibility of the freight forwarder or customs broker to handle these details. While you probably cannot find the relevant regulations yourself, you can get an overview of commercial law, import regulations, and the business climate in a foreign country. This will help you to conduct business overseas, and when it finally comes to moving your goods abroad. As a start, you can find out about business practices in foreign countries, including some legal information, through the Exporters' Encyclopedia, which has a several page entry on almost every country. You can also try a series called Doing Business in..., published by Price Waterhouse. These are book length works, each covering one country. Some information about U.S. trade regulations can also be found at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Web site. The Department of Commerce / Trade Information Center's [TIC] Tariff and Import Fee Information Center has links to a variety of resources about tariffs. The site includes a tutorial on getting started, tips on importing products into the United States, an online tariff database, and tax and tariff information for 97 countries.
The Business Owner's Manual has a general section on financing, which is also applicable to financing an export business. Listed below are a few Internet sources which may be of particular interest to an exporter:
ADDITIONAL LIBRARY RESOURCES Print Resources
Electronic Resources There are several indispensable electronic resources for information related to international trade. You can search these at the Science, Industry, and Business Library's Electronic Information Center.
Other Web sites
Other Sources The New York U.S. Export Assistance Center is an organization in New York City, backed by the Small Business Administration, the Department of Commerce, and the Export-Import Bank , which offers a wide range of services helping businesses to export. They can help identify foreign markets, put you in touch with foreign distributors, agents, and importers, lead you to SBA and Export-Import Bank financing, and offer other kinds of general support (212- 466-5222). SCORE, an organization sponsored by the SBA, brings volunteer retired business executives together with entrepreneurs and small business people in order to give them guidance and advice about their small businesses. In addition to one-on-one counseling, SCORE offers programs and seminars, many of which are related to international trade. SCORE representatives are available at the Science Industry and Business Library for one hour counseling sessions by appointment Tues-Friday 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. and Tues-Thursday 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. They can be reached at the library at 212-592-7033 during the above business hours. SCORE can also be contacted at their central New York location: Federal Plaza (at Duane St.), Room 3100, New York, NY 10278, Tel: 212-264-4507. |