ABSTRACT
Countertrade is any commercial arrangement in which sellers or exporters are required to accept in partial or total settlement of their deliveries a supply of products from the importing country. In essence, it is a nation’s (or fi rm’s) use of its purchasing power as leverage to force a private fi rm to purchase or market its marginally undesirable goods or exact other concessions in order to fi nance its imports or obtain needed hard currency or technology. Although the manner in which the transaction is structured may vary, the distinctive feature of such arrangements is the mandatory performance element that is either required by the importer or the importer’s government or made necessary by competitive considerations (Verzariu, 1985, 1992).
