Import Export Business Resources Update

We’re pleased to let you know that GlobalSources China Sourcing Fairs are returning to Hong Kong. They’ll be held April 20-23 at AsiaWorld-Expo.

You’ll see over 2,300 booths and source directly from the leading suppliers exhibiting at these shows -- China Sourcing Fairs: Baby & Children's Products, Christmas & Seasonal Products, Gifts & Premiums, Home Products, Medical & Health Products, Solar & Energy Saving Products; India Sourcing Fair: Home Products; and Korea Sourcing Fair: Gifts & Premiums.

Next are some resources that we hope you will find useful to your Internatioal Trade Bsuiness - Find out more information below or click on the link to view each page.

1) Monthly Sourcing Highlights

The "Monthly Sourcing Highlights" page provides buyers with the latest sourcing news, guides and advice on how to source effectively from China. In addition, buyers can get updates on the upcoming China Sourcing Fairs and Online Sourcing Fairs held by Global Sources.

Your content and links will also get posted on this page if they are featured in our Monthly Sourcing Highlights newsletter.

 

2) Top 20 Most Popular Products

 

The "Top 20 Most Popular Products" page allows buyers to get updated on the latest product trends and consumer demand. It provides insights on the top 20 most popular product categories buyers from each industry are searching and inquiring on globalsources.com every month.

 

3) Buyers Guide

 

The "Buyers Guide" page contains all the information on how to source successfully from Asia. Buyers can get proven-to-work best practices, insights from experts in the field and benefit from the "been there, done that" experiences of veteran sourcing professionals.

 

4) Ask The Experts

 

Buyers can read experts' answers to tough questions about sourcing from China or post their sourcing question directly to our panel of sourcing experts on the Ask the Experts page.

 

Useful Trade Resources

 

Monthly Sourcing Highlights - Late-breaking news, interviews with sourcing experts, country profiles and “How To” sourcing tips.

Top 20 Most Popular Products - An informative look at the monthly updated most popular product categories — based on the volume of searches and inquiries on the Global Sources website.

Buyers Guide - In-depth articles, surveys, best practices and frequently asked questions about sourcing from Asia.

Ask The Experts - A panel of top experts offers practical answers to tough questions about China sourcing.

Import Export Business Questions And Answers

In recent months one of the most commonly asked questions I have been receiving about the Import Export Business Toolkit training course is from non-USA residents who are rightfully concerned that the information provided in the course will not be helpful to them.

My general reply is that the Importing course part of the toolkit is more USA centric than the Exporting part.  Overall the toolkit is composed approximately 30% on starting an Importing business and 70% on starting an Exporting business.

I feel the Exporting business holds far more opportunity for success in International trade in the USA right now and for that fact most of the world.  There is far more help and assistance available for an exporter from both business and government organizations than there is for an importer.

One note I would also commonly answer to inquiries about how useful the exporting information is to someone outside the USA was that the only portion that would "not" be useful would be the USA government and business organizations that provide support to exporters.

Beyond these USA government and private organization office addresses, phone numbers etc that are in the course, the course covers everything anyone anywhere in the world needs to start and operate an exporting business. Period

Then an email arrived in my inbox about two weeks ago that made me question that I may be wrong about Non-USA persons not being able to benefit from USA government and private business organizations exporting business assistance.

I will post the body of the message I received at the end of this post and as you will clearly see when you click over to the USA government office that the email came from, you can benefit from their export assistance.

The short email received was about National Export Initiative Priority Markets: Vietnam and there is a short video at their website along with other information that is extremely helpful to "any" exporter looking for new markets or to expand into markets they may already be selling into.

So my view has now changed, primarily due to the Internet.

The evolution of the Internet has brought information that once had to be sent my mail or other means and in an effort to get the latest and best resources into the hands of exporters, both government and private organizations are posting it freely on their websites.

In many instances, you can sign up for free email notifications to be informed at the moment any new valuable resource comes available.  With so many free email accounts being used, anyone with Internet access and an email address can now access just about ALL the resources that a USA exporter has available.  The Internet has really opened the door to anyone in the world to benefit from the export business resources that were once exclusive to USA exporters.

So from now on, my answer will be different than before.  Now here is the basic text of the message that brought about this post - remember, most of the resources listed in the course have websites and have email notifications or newsletters you can sign up for.....

National Export Initiative Priority Markets: Vietnam

The U.S. Commercial Service is the trade promotion arm of the U.S. Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration. U.S. Commercial Service trade professionals in over 100 U.S. cities and in more than 75 countries help U.S. companies get started in exporting or increase sales to new global markets. *So far this year, we have helped American business achieve 6,400 export success stories.* This is a featured video from the National Export Initiative Priority Markets series. Vietnam Download full video .mp4 (16MB) Vietnam is a true emerging market, offering ground floor and growing opportunities for U.S. exporters and investors. Vietnam’s economic...

Import Export Business And Trade Will Survive The Demise Of The US Commerce Department

Thought I would make a quick post in reply to an anonymous inquiry posted as a comment to the post previous to this one.

The comment basically is the following with a link to an article on Yahoo news about the recent announcement of the possible demise of the US Department of Commerce:

Have a question. What do you think of this? The Department of Commerce coming to an end. I have a concern. How will this effect the Import/Export Trade business?

I wanted to reply in the form of a post -- basically I see no changes and if you read the article closely you will see that the responsibilities of the DOC will be roled into or combined with other departments with similar functions.

Of course there will the the usual bureaucratic overhaul of new phone numbers, new office addresses, etc., etc. but the overall functioning will still be there and the services they provide today will be provided then, but under a different office name.

My concern is that the comment poster would be so concerned as to how this change would affect the Import Export Business.

Importing and Exporting have been accomplished between men and women throughout the world since the beginning of time and in most instances it has achieved the goals of each of those participants without any outside assistance.

While the DOC is probably one of the most helpful govt agencies to businesses and business people, if it went out of business tomorrow, totally, international trade would still go on. There may be a hiccup, of course, because of some of the laws, regulations that they enforce but NO government agency is the be all to a successful business transaction.

Additionally, there are state agencies within each state in the union that work with importers and exporters so there is a great deal of redundancy.

I would say this to the person who posted the comment.....do not let the government prevent you from your goals in business.  Move forward, do what YOU have to do and the business will work....it has for eons and it will continue for eons whether the DOC or whatever other department name they come up with exists or goes out of existence.  Trade On!