国际商务英语课文电子版lesson (10)

Lesson10 International Payment Generally speaking, it is not very difficult for buyers and sellers in domestic trade to get to know each other’s financial status and other information, and payment is likely to be made in a straightforward manner, say（for example）by remittance or by debiting the debtor’s account. In international trade, however, things are far more complicated. Purchase and sale of goods and services are carried out beyond national boundaries, which make it rather

difficult for the parties concerned in the transaction to get adequate information about each other’s financial standing and creditworthiness (资信；信誉). Therefore, mutual trust is hard to build. Both the exporter and importer face risks as there is always the

not fulfill the contract.

For the exporter there is the risk of buyer default（不按期付款）. The importer might fail to pay in full for the goods. He might go bankrupt.

His government might, for various reasons, ban（禁止）trade with the exporting country or ban imports of certain commodities. The buyer might run into difficulties getting the foreign exchange to pay for the goods. It is even possible that the buyer is not reliable and simply refuses to pay the agreed amount on various excuses.

On the part of the importer, there is the risk that the shipment will be delayed, and he might only receive them long after payment.

The delay may be caused by problems in production or transportation, and such delays may lead to loss of business. There is also a risk that wrong goods might be sent as a result of negligence（疏忽大意）of the exporter or simply because of his lack of integrity （honesty）.

Political risks such as war, quotas, foreign exchange control; commercial risks like market change and exchange rate fluctuations(波动); and even language barriers all add up

to（increase）the problems in international trade. Because of these problems and risks, exporters are hesitant to release their goods before receiving payment, while importers prefer to have control over the goods before parting with their money.

Various methods of payment have been developed to cope with different situations in international trade. When the political and economic situation in the importing country makes payment uncertain or when the buyer’s credit standing is

dubious (doubtful), the exporter may prefer cash in advance or partial cash in advance. In this case, the importer has no guarantee that the exporter will fulfill his obligations once he has made payment by cash. If the buyer and the seller know each other well, they may decide to trade on open account. This means that no documents are involved and that legally (in terms of law) the buyer can pay anytime. The seller loses all control over the goods once they have been shipped. Sales on this