Countertrade constitutes an estimated 5 to 30 percent of total world trade. Countertrade greatly proliferated in the 1980s. Perhaps, the single most important contributing factor is Least Developed Countries (LDC’s) decreasing ability to finance their import needs through bank loans. Countertrade, one of the oldest forms of trade, is a government mandate to pay for goods and services with something other than cash. It is a practice, which requires a seller as a condition of sale, to commit contractually to reciprocate and undertake certain business initiatives that compensate and benefit the buyer. In short, a goods-for-goods deal is countertrade. Unlike monetary trade, suppliers are required to take customers products for their use or for resale. In most cases, there are multiple deals that are separate yet related, and a contract links these separable transactions. Countertrade may involve several products, and such products may move at different points in time while Continue reading