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Trade intermediaries

5 May, 2016 - 16:43

Small manufacturers who are interested in building their foreign sales are turning to trade intermediaries to assist them in the sale and distribution of their products. These entrepreneurial middlemen typically buy US-produced goods at 15 per cent below a manufacturer's best discount and then resell the products in overseas markets. These trade intermediaries account for about 10 per cent of all US exports 1. The trade intermediary provides a valuable service to small companies, which often do not have the resources or expertise to market their products overseas. The trade intermediaries have developed relationships with foreign countries; these relationships are time-consuming and expensive to develop.