What Are Exports? Definition, Benefits, and Examples

What Is an Export?

Exports are goods and services that are produced in one country and sold to buyers in another. Exports, along with imports, make up international trade. Instead of confining themseves within their geographical borders, countries often intentionally seek external markets around the world for commerce, achieving greater revenue and transactional opportunities.

Understanding Exports

Exports are incredibly important to modern economies because they offer people and firms many more markets for their goods. One of the core functions of diplomacy and foreign policy between governments is to foster economic trade, encouraging exports and imports for the benefit of all trading parties.

Export agreements are often heavily strategic, with countries exchanging agreements to ensure their own country can not only receive the goods they need via imports but can distribute goods for more domestic revenue via exports. Also, consider how governments may use exports as leverage over political situations. In response to the war in Ukraine, the White House issued an executive order prohibiting both the importation and exportation of certain goods to and from Russia.

Companies often measure their net exports, which is their total exports minus their total imports. Because net exports are a component of a country's gross domestic product (GDP), exports play a factor in determining a country's financial and economic well-being.

Goods may be sent via direct exporting or indirect exporting. Direct exporting entails working directly with an importer. The exporting company handles all of the client communication; as a result, they do not pay a middleman fee. Because the direct export method may require teams with specialized knowledge, many companies opt to contract out a third party to facilitate an indirect export.

The Export Process

In many cases, a country will partner with another country to understand the demand needs for certain products. Instead of blindly manufacturing goods and hoping for an international buyer, the export process often starts with the manufacturing country receiving an order. The exporting country must often receive proper clearance from their home country to export goods; this is often done by obtaining an export license or meeting other country-specific requirements.

The export process usually entails settling several financial matters upfront. First, the exporter may seek out a letter of credit from the importer if applicable. This ensures the exporter can have greater faith in the transaction and will receive compensation for the goods once exported. The exporter and importer also fix the exchange rate at which the exported goods will be exchanged at from the foreign currency to the home currency. At this point, an invoice is most often issued and paid for, finalizing the sale.

As the order is prepared, formal documents are gathered including a permit issued by the customers department, financial document such as a bill of lading and shipping documents are prepared, and and shipment advance information. These documents are remit to the seller; of primary importance is the shipment advance which notifies the importer how goods will be transmitted.

Trade Barriers and Other Limitations

A trade barrier includes any government law, regulation, policy, or practice that is designed to protect domestic products from foreign competition or to artificially stimulate exports of particular domestic products. The most common foreign trade barriers are government-imposed measures and policies that restrict, prevent, or impede the international exchange of goods and services.

Trade barriers present exporting companies with a unique set of challenges. Extra costs are likely to be realized because companies must allocate considerable resources to researching foreign markets and modifying products to meet local demand and regulations.

Companies that export are typically exposed to a higher degree of financial risk. Payment collection methods, such as open accounts, letters of credit, prepayment and consignment, are inherently complex and take longer to process than payments from domestic customers.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Exports

Pros of Exports

Companies export products and services for a variety of reasons. Exports can increase sales and profits if the goods create new markets or expand existing ones. They may even present an opportunity to capture significant global market share. Companies that export spread business risk by diversifying into multiple markets.

Exporting into foreign markets can often reduce per-unit costs by taking advantage of economies of scale. Finally, companies that export into foreign markets gain new knowledge and experience that may allow the discovery of new technologies, marketing practices, and insights into foreign competitors.

Cons of Exports

To export goods, countries may need to incur high transportation costs and the risk of loss due to the transportation of goods. If ownership of the goods does not pass to the buyer until goods are received, this may make the exportation unduly risky for the exporter.

Because of logistic and economic constraints, small and medium-sized businesses or governments may find difficulty in exporting goods. In addition, smaller companies often do not have the in-house personnel needed to potentially navigate international trade regulations. Exporting of goods is much more common for larger bodies with greater resources to seek out these outside markets.

Last, exporting to foreign countries may result in currency risk. Depending on exchange rate agreements at the time of contract, a foreign currency's worth may deteriorate, negatively affecting an exporter. Consider when one currency strengthens against another; if the exporter is to be paid in the currency whose value has depreciated, their export may be devalued. This devaluation may also occur based on extenuating tariffs or lower export prices.

Real-World Example of Exports

The United States is one of the top exporters of automotive vehicles. As domestic companies manufacturer cars, trucks, and other vehicles, these are shipped around the world and used by non-U.S. entities.

In 2022, the Observatory of Economic Complexity reported that the U.S. was the world's third largest exporter of cars, distributing $57.5 billion of vehicles around the world. The U.S. distributed over $16.9 billion worth of vehicles to Canada, with other top being countries receiving U.S.-made vehicles being Germany, China, South Korea, and Mexico.

Alternatively, the U.S. was also the top importer of vehicles in 2022. It imported $159 billion of cars, most of which came from Mexico, Japan, and Canada.

Of the U.S. manufacturers that distribute goods around the world, BMW Manufacturing led domestic companies by the value of cars exported. In 2022, the group's South Carolina plant alone exported over 227,000 vehicles to roughly 120 countries, an export total of nearly $9.6 billion. 2022 was the ninth consecutive year that BMW Manufacturing led automotive exports by value, and more than 15.5% of the company's exports were delivered to Germany, the top export market.

The Bottom Line

An export is a good that is produced domestically but sold to a consumer overseas. Exporting goods can have advantages and disadvantages for both the producer and the countries in which they do business. Due to resource constraints, economic policy, and manufacturing strategies of each country, it sometimes makes more sense for countries to make goods to sell for revenue as opposed to retain for consumption.