Benefits of Trade: Worksheet

https://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/trade-2/8-benefits-of-international-trade-export-
management/5914
https://www.economicsonline.co.uk/Global_economics/Why_do_countries_trade.html#:~:text=The
%20advantages%20of%20trade&text=Trade%20increases%20competition%20and%20lowers,from
%20more%20efficient%20foreign%20firms.

Activity instructions:

The two articles above discuss some of the main advantages of the trade in goods and services
between nations.
First, explain the difference between goods and services (you can find the answer in the youtube
video or by looking it up online):

Goods: Goods are resources or items that can be used as a medium of exchange.

Services: Services are actions or activities that people perform for you. They are intangible
in nature which means it cannot be touched unlike a good.

Now, summarise in your own words some of the advantages of trade described in the two
articles:

Consumer choice: Trade allows consumers to have a greater variety of goods and services
available to them.

Availability of resources: Trades of resources allow countries to gain items or goods which
are not available in their regions and vice versa countries can give away items which they
already have to gain new resources.

Economic growth: Trade expands countries' need for employment which in turn grows the
economy.

Economic specialization: Economic specialization is caused by division of labour. Since each

worker is given a specialist job, they will become more efficient with the process and
become an overall better worker.

Competition and efficiency: When more than 2 counties are involved in trading it becomes
a competition which would lead to more efficient supplies from the countries involved.

Diplomacy: when countries trade they build a good relation with each other, which can lead
to many benefits for one another like and endless supply of resources which would lead to
economic growth.
Next, can you think of any possible disadvantages of trade between nations?

Disadvantages: When trade is not done efficiently or when there is a fault in trade it could
lead to conflict between the countries.

Finally, define each of the three following terms in your own words (you can use the
internet for this but make sure your source is reliable):

Tariffs: A tax on imported goods

Free trade: A trade done without tariffs.

Protectionism: Government policies that hurt free trade.

ATLs: The ATLs focus for this unit is Critical Thinking Skills. Here are some of the strands for
Critical Thinking Skills:
● Analysing and evaluating issues and ideas
○ Gather and organize relevant information to formulate an argument
○ Recognise unstated assumptions and bias
○ Interpret data
○ Evaluate evidence and arguments
○ Consider ideas from multiple perspectives
○ Analyse complex concepts and projects into their constituent parts and synthesise them to create
new understanding
○ Propose and evaluate a variety of solutions
○ Identify obstacles and challenges
○ Identify trends and forecast possibilities

Which one is most relevant to today’s lesson?

Briefly explain your selection:

Number 1.

Homework task:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-voHl16vFE
1. It has been argued that the failure of the League of Nations to draw up a set of
rules governing international trade was one of the causes of the Great
Depression (and maybe even the Second World War!). Can you explain?
2. What was GATT? What were its objectives? Did it succeed?
3. What is the WTO? Has it succeeded in achieving its objectives?