English for business-International trade

Nowadays every country in the world buys from other countries and sells to them. In a way this trade between countries is like the barter of long ago. If one country has more things than it can use, it may exchange them with another country for what it needs.

The things a country sells to another country are called exports. The things a country buys from another country are called imports. Payment for imports and exports is made through a system called foreign exchange in which the value of the money of one country in relation to the money of other countries is agreed upon.

The difference in value between currencies is called rates of exchange. These vary from time to time.

In transactions in international trade, actual money does not usually change hands. A letter of cre*** may take the place of money. It is a letter from a bank asking that the holder of the letter be allowed to withdraw specified sums of money from other bank to agencies, to be charged to the account of the writer of the letter.

Today international trade is becoming more and more important. It is hard to imagine how the complex business affairs of the trade among nations could be carried out without the many services that a bank provides.