Glitches can clog international pipelines

Many companies have found that international trade is not a panacea. In fact, without expert guidance, many pitfalls await the novice exporter.

Tariffs, bills of lading, customs duty, merchandise processing fees, insurance, letters of credit, import/export broker fees, warehouse handling, shipping fees and various other items can cause products to get stuck along a trade route and customers and manufacturers to lose sleep trying to fix glitches along the way.

Setting up international-trade deals for a company just entering the market may require the expertise of a business that specializes in establishing trade routes and handling tariffs or an agency that helps…