THE MOST PROMINENT DIFFERENCES BETWEEN IMPORTING AND EXPORTING - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2025

The main difference between importing and exporting is that the term import includes everything that enters a country and comes from abroad, while the term export refers to everything that leaves a nation and goes to another country.

This commercial dynamic takes place all over the world as no country is self-sufficient (Capela, 2008). When a country is rich in a certain material, it can export it to other countries, making these countries depend on the importation of these inputs in order to offer multiple goods and services to their inhabitants.

This situation is easily identifiable when it comes to precious minerals, oil and other services. A key difference between importing and exporting goods and services is that import represents an expense for a nation, while export must leave a profit.

However, all countries have a duty to achieve certain export and import goals annually in order to fully subsist.

In a balanced economy, imports and exports should offset each other. However, this seldom occurs and in many cases the payment for imported supplies is greater than the amount of money raised from exports.

Differences between import and export

A fundamental difference between exporting and importing is that most countries want to increase the amount of items they export and reduce the amount of money they spend on imports. All this is related to the economic interests of each nation.

To the extent that a country exports more goods and services, it is considered stronger, since it has a greater competitive advantage. On the other hand, to the extent that it imports more goods and services, it is considered to have a greater dependence on other nations and therefore has a lower competitive advantage (Olivia, 2011).

On the other hand, by exporting more goods and services, a country tends to specialize in a particular type of industry. Whereas, when importing such goods and services, there is no need to develop or promote the same type of industry.

Most governments encourage exports, since this represents job creation and better remuneration for employees, which translates into improving the quality of life of a nation.

This phenomenon does not occur with imports, since fewer jobs are created within this commercial transaction.

When exported, more money enters each nation's central bank, helping to keep inflation under control. When imported, this amount of money is withdrawn and the value of the local currency can fluctuate (Grimsley, 2017).

Key concepts to better understand the differences

to import

The concept of importing is defined as the entry of foreign products and services to a country. This income is made through the initiative of parties residing in a country, which can be citizens, businesses or the government.

Regardless of what type of good or service is entered into the country or how it is entered, everything that is produced abroad and subsequently entered into a country at the initiative of a resident and sold in that country is considered an import.

In this way, even products and services derived from tourism are considered imports (Amadeo, 2017).

Countries import goods and services for different reasons. The most important is that not all countries are self-sufficient, and even if they wanted to be, this could represent a high cost. For this reason, many countries choose the alternative of importing some of the following goods and services:

- Goods and services that are essential, inexpensive and highly attractive to consumers and that are not available in the local market.

- Fossil fuels such as oil and natural gas are some of the most imported items in the world. Most of the reserves of these fuels are in few territories of the world. In this way, in order to support their demand, most countries choose to import them.

- Goods and services that are cheaper if they are produced in another country. This happens when the infrastructure abroad is more efficient than in the country where you reside. In this way, many countries have the ability to produce the goods they import, but within their economic interests it is better to import such goods at a lower cost (Hill, 2017).

To export

Unlike imports, exports consist of sending abroad those products that are produced locally for the citizens of another nation to consume.

In this way, it does not matter what type of good or service it is or where and how it is sent. If the product is manufactured locally and sold to a foreign country, it is an export.

Many businesses have the ability to export goods and services that allow them to gain a competitive advantage. This means that, to be exporters, they must be the best suppliers of an input within the market (Amadeo, US Economy, 2017).

On the other hand, the elements that a country tends to export reflect the quality of its industry and natural wealth.

There are countries that have a greater facility to produce certain products since they have a more developed specific type of industry or have the ideal climatic conditions to grow some type of input (Media, 2016).

Examples

India

India is a country with a vast amount of skilled manpower in the technology sector. This workforce exports its services to other companies in the world, for this reason it is easy to find that many telephone service centers of foreign companies are located in India.

Despite this, India is a country that does not produce oil or weapons, therefore, it needs other countries to import these goods.

This leads to it being a large importer of oil (necessary to mobilize its population) and weapons (necessary for its army), since it is in an economic deficit, since the value of its imports exceeds that of its exports.

tourism

When an individual travels to a foreign country and brings souvenirs with him, he is considered to be importing.

This phenomenon can also be read in the opposite way when these souvenirs are sold by locals to foreign visitors within the country in which they are produced.

References

1. Amadeo, K. (April 19, 2017). S. Economy. Obtained from Imports: Definition, Examples, Effect on Economy: thebalance.com.
2. Amadeo, K. (March 7, 2017). S. Economy. Obtained from What Are Exports? Their Effect on the Economy: thebalance.com.
3. Capela, JJ (2008). Import / Export For Dummies. Hoboken: Wiley Publishing.
4. Grimsley, S. (2017). com. Retrieved from Importing and Exporting in a Global Market: Definition, Process & Importance: study.com.
5. Hill, A. (2017). com. Obtained from What is an Import? - Definition & Example: study.com
6. Media, A. (October 26, 2016). How to Export Import. Retrieved from Why prefer export ?: howtoexportimport.com.
7. (March 8, 2011). Difference Between. Obtained from Difference Between Import and Export: differencebetween.com.