End-of-Chapter Question Solutions 1 ____________________________________________________________________________________________

CHAPTER 23: INTERNATIONAL TRADE FINANCE
1. Trade dilemma. What is meant by the term ‘trade dilemma’? International trade must work around a fundamental dilemma. Imagine an importer and an exporter who would like to do business with one another. They live in different countries located far apart. They have never met. They speak different languages. They operate in different political environments. They worship different gods (each capitalizes “God” in the home religion and uses a lower case “god” for foreign religions!). They come form cultures that have different standards for honoring obligations to other persons and different ways to settle disputes. They both know that if they default on an obligation, the other party will have a hard time catching up to seek redress. Although it might be too harsh to say they don’t trust one another, each has perfectly valid reasons for being very cautious in dealing with the other. Because of the distance between the two, it is not possible to simultaneously hand over goods with one hand and accept payment with the other. 2. Basic documents of trade. What are the three basic documents used in trade with unrelated parties? The fundamental dilemma of being unwilling to trust a stranger in a foreign land is solved by using a highly respected bank as intermediary. A greatly simplified view is described in Exhibit 23.3. In this simplified view, the importer obtains the bank’s promise to pay on its behalf, knowing that the exporter will trust the bank. The bank’s promise to pay is called a letter of credit. The exporter ships the merchandise to the importer’s country. Title to the merchandise is given to the bank on a document called an order bill of lading. The exporter ask the bank to pay for the