U1 Disadvantages/Advantages of International Trade

Question 1

Advantages of International Trade

Answer 1

• sell unneeded goods and buy needed goods.
• creates jobs, attracts investments, and brings new technology and materials.
• wider choice in products and services.
• People spend, save, or pay taxes with the money they earn in their jobs.
• Taxes are used by the government to provide services
• short-term prosperity for countries

Question 2

Job Creation

Answer 2

• buying products creates jobs
• Exports play a crucial role in the Canadian economy, creating one out of three Canadian jobs.
• Approximately 40% of what Canadians produce is exported.
• Each $1 billion in exports translates to 6,000 jobs for Canadians.
• Balanced trade ensures profitability and potential growth for businesses.

Question 3

Attracting Investment

Answer 3

The presence of foreign investment attracts international investors.

Question 4

New Technology & Materials

Answer 4

• New technology enhances competitiveness and profitability for businesses.
• Improved machines that are better, faster, or cheaper create more competitive products.
• Businesses that develop such technology gain an advantage in national and international markets.
• The biotechnology industry in Canada ranks second only to the U.S. in terms of its prominence.

Question 5

Diverse Products and Services

Answer 5

• Oranges, once rare treats, are now readily available in local grocery stores due to improved preservation and trading technologies.
• Foreign trade has transformed the world into a global market, providing access to diverse goods like food and fashion.
• New services such as banking, travel, and consultation have emerged and become widely accessible.
• Businesses now compete on a global scale, resulting in better quality goods, lower prices, and functional design.

Question 6

Disadvantages of International Trade

Answer 6

• economic exploitation
• Loss of cultural identity
• physical harm

Question 7

Support of Non-Democratic Systems

Answer 7

• Poor decisions about land use and surplus production can lead to great hardship.
• Landowners in Nicaragua and El Salvador prioritize growing profitable cash crops like coffee beans.
• Farmers in these countries would prefer to use the land to grow more food for their families.
• However, the farmers’ wishes are often ignored because they don’t own the land.
• This lack of consideration for the general population’s welfare can have negative consequences.

Question 8

Cultural Identity Issues

Answer 8

Products can convey cultural ideas and messages, representing the values of a particular culture.

Question 9

Social Welfare Issues:

Answer 9

• maintaining safety standards
• minimum wages
• worker’s compensation
• health benefits cost businesses money

Question 10

Environmental Issues:

Answer 10

• government and environmental groups through laws and regulations to keep our air, land and water clean
• costly process so businesses decide to move their operations to countries; i.e. Mexico, where it is less regulated.

Question 11

Political Issues:

Answer 11

• control of commodities led to wars and loss of lives as nations fight to gain control.
• trade forms political alliances, but often these alliances benefit powerful corporations rather than the people in the trading nation.