The Participants in the Foreign Trade Transaction
As foreign trade transactions take place at the international level, connecting the markets of different countries, the number of participants involved in their implementation is usually larger than in a domestic trade transaction. By participants we mean the producer and buyer of the goods if they are trading directly, plus all the players who are involved at some point along the line between the manufacturer and the buyer of the goods if not. The main players in the chain after the manufacturer may be intermediaries, transport companies or forwarding companies involved in the delivery of the goods to the customer, as well as local distributors in the relevant foreign markets, which may be retailers or wholesalers. Intermediaries can be grouped into three categories. There are intermediaries who carry out transactions on their own behalf and at their own risk. Such is the typical reseller, who buys and forwards the goods without substantial reworking – these are the foreign trade companies. Then there are intermediaries who do not buy the goods but act as independent traders and make sales at the seller’s risk and charge a commission on their activities. Finally, there are agents or brokers who, when selling goods, act in the name and at the risk of the seller on an ad hoc or permanent basis in return for an agency fee.