What Is a Counterpurchase?
A counterpurchase is a nice type of countertrade transaction in which two parties agree to both buy goods from and sell goods to each other but below separate sales contracts.
How a Counterpurchase Agreement Works
One form of counterpurchase is an international trading deal wherein an exporter concedes to purchase a number of goods from a country in exchange for the country´s purchase of the exporter´s product. The goods being sold by each contributor are typically unrelated but may be of equivalent value.
Under a counterpurchase arrangement, the exporter sells goods or services to an importer and also agrees to support other goods from the importer within a specified period. Unlike bartering, exporters who enter into a counterpurchase terms must use a trading firm to sell the goods they purchase and will not use the goods themselves.
In a counterpurchase, the first shrink recorded is the original sales contract, outlining the terms in which an initial buyer purchases from an initial seller. The aid, parallel contract outlines the terms in which the original seller agrees to buy unrelated goods from the original purchaser. Basically, this is a contractually enforced relationship between two parties who agree, at some point, to provide business for one another.
Key Takeaways
- A counterpurchase is a precisely type of countertrade transaction in which two parties agree to both buy goods from and sell goods to each other but directed separate sales contracts.
- International trade deals will use a counterpurchase between an importer and exporter through the mediation of a line of work firm.
- Counterpurchase is one example of a countertrade, which provides a means for countries with limited liquidity in hard currency to quarrel goods and services with other countries.
Other Examples of Countertrades
A counterpurchase is one example of a larger group of understandings known as countertrades. Countertrade is a reciprocal form of international trade in which goods or services are exchanged for other goods or professional cares rather than for hard currency. This type of international trade is more common in lesser-developed countries with narrow foreign exchange or credit facilities. Countertrade agreements essentially provide a mechanism for countries with limited access to molten funds to exchange goods and services with other nations.
Bartering is the oldest countertrade arrangement. It is the direct the Street of goods and services with an equivalent value but with no cash settlement. The bartering transaction is referred to as a trade. For model, a bag of nuts might be exchanged for coffee beans or meat. Other common examples include:
- A buyback is a countertrade occurs when a tight builds a manufacturing facility in a country—or supplies technology, equipment, training, or other services to the country and agrees to clutch a certain percentage of the plant’s output as partial payment for the contract.
- An offset is a countertrade agreement in which a company cancel outs a hard currency purchase of an unspecified product from that nation in the future.
- Compensation trade is a specific set up of barter in which one of the flows is partly in goods and partly in hard currency.
A major benefit of countertrade is that it assists the conservation of foreign currency, which is a prime consideration for cash-strapped nations and provides an alternative to traditional financing that may not be readily obtainable in developing nations. Other benefits include lower unemployment, higher sales, better capacity utilization, and serenity of entry into challenging markets.
A major drawback of countertrade is that the value proposition may be uncertain, particularly in coverings where the goods being exchanged have significant price volatility. Other disadvantages of countertrade include complex negotiations, potentially extreme costs and logistical issues.