CROSS-BORDER TRANSACTIONS

Attorney Norka M. Schell
Law Offices of Norka M. Schell, LLC

Trading good across borders or "cross-border transactions" continue to a large extent to be subject to our national laws and international trade.

International business affects almost each one of us.  The buyer of a Japanese iPhone or a German Mercedes-Benz are involved a series of links in a foreign trading relationship. But their roles were indirect, they undoubtedly bought the phone or car from a United States retailer. The individual was not directly engaging in international trade. The seller of the phone or the car may have been, although it is quite possible that they were indirect links, purchasing from United States distributors. At some point, however, an entity in the United States ordered these goods from abroad. Or the foreign manufacturers may have established subsidiaries in the United States to undertake the distribution. In that case, the purchasers from the distributors were dealing with a foreign direct investment, an equity investment in the United States by foreign capital. Numerous international trade people played a role in the movement of the iPhone and Mercedes-Benz from their place of manufacture in Japan and Germany to the ultimate purchaser in New York or California.