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International Trade

Subject Guides: Business and Economics

This symbol indicates a "blue ribbon" source. Try these first!

COUNTRY BACKGROUND--CULTURAL

Country Studies <http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/cshome.html>
Provides a comprehensive full-text source of background information on the history, politics, culture, and economy of about 90 countries. Based on a series of books prepared by the U.S. Library of Congress.

Culturgrams Ref. GT150 .C85
Briefly summarize the unique customs, values, traditions and lifestyles within 110 nations around the world. Emphasis on society and culture of foreign nations.

Lonely Planet <http://www.lonelyplanet.com/destinations/>
Lonely Planet publishes guidebooks for independent travelers. Known for reliable travel information, historical background, and cultural insights.

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COUNTRY BACKGROUND--ECONOMIC & POLITICAL

Background Notes <http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/>
From the U.S. Dept. of State, excellent brief introductions to the nations of the world. Emphasis on government, politics, and foreign relations.

Country Commercial Guides
Prepared by U.S. embassies and federal agencies. CCG's summarize the facts about doing business in a particular country. The CCG's are available within StatUSA/National Trade Data Bank, a UT Libraries business database . Choose the NTDB, then the Country Commercial Guides under "Market and Country Research."

Economist.com Country Briefings <http://www.economist.com/countries/index.cfm>
News, country profiles, forecasts, statistics and more for 60 major nations as provided by the Economist Intelligence Unit.

Global Insight A UT Libraries business database
Provides a comprehensive overview, including country risk ratings, of the political, economic, and business environments within 186 countries. Also includes daily analysis of international events affecting business

Infonation <http://www.un.org/Pubs/CyberSchoolBus/infonation/e_infonation.htm>
An easy-to-use database that allows you to compare up-to-date statistical data for member states of the United Nations.

SourceOECD A UT Libraries business database
From the left blue menu bar, select OECD Economic Surveys, then a country for an annual survey of political and economic activity in one of 30 developed nations of Europe, Asia, and North America that are members of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development plus a selected group of additional major economies.

Stat-USA/National Trade Data Bank A UT Libraries business database
A good place to begin locating business information for foreign countries. Has trade data and and economic overviews of countries around the world plus outlook for foreign investment in specific countries and industries. Documents are primarily from U.S. government agencies concerned with foreign trade.

UNdata A UT Libraries database
Search for data on demographics, economics, health, education, trade, living conditions, etc. in foreign nations.

World Factbook <https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/>
From the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, provides brief overviews of the nations of the world, summarizing their demographic, political, economic, and social status. A quick way to get country data online.

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CURRENCY CONVERTERS

Oanda.com, the Currency Place <http://www.oanda.com/convert/classic>
Universal Currency Converter <http://www.xe.com/ucc/>
Both provide an extensive set of currency conversion and foreign exchange information services for travelers, investors and businesses. Have both current and historical rates.

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GUIDES & INTERNET GATEWAYS

Global Edge <http://globaledge.msu.edu/ibrd/ibrd.asp>
One of the best web gateways to international business information. From Michigan State University, it includes news reports, country background, trade resources, culture, etc.

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INTERNATIONAL CORPORATE BACKGROUND

Hoover's Online <http://www.hoovers.com>
A quick information source for companies, both U.S. and foreign, on the Web. Provides brief profiles of companies, plus links to business headlines, company web pages, and more. UT Libraries users will find Hoover's as one of the sources included in the Company Profiles section of Lexis Nexis Academic (a UT Libraries business database).

International Directory of Company Histories A UT Libraries business database
An encyclopedia covering the history and development of the world's companies, leaders in their industry or geographical location with at least $50 million in sales. Includes both U.S. and international corporations.

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INTERNATIONAL COMPANY DIRECTORIES

Corporate Affiliations.com A UT Libraries business database
A guide to corporate links of international corporations and their divisions, subsidiaries, and affiliates.

Directory of American Firms Operating in Foreign Countries Ref. HG4538 .A1D5
Directory of Foreign Firms Operating in the United States Ref. HG4057 .A21
Has lists arranged geographically with address and contact information for American firms operating abroad and foreign firms in the U.S.

Principal International Businesses Ref. HF54.U6D85
This directory provides brief information on 50,000 leading enterprises in 133 nations, arranged by country, by product/industry category, and by company name.

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INTERNATIONAL CORPORATE FINANCES

Mergent Online A UT Libraries business database
The electronic equivalent of Moody's Manuals, this database provides financial summaries and links to annual corporate shareholder reports for approximately 17,000 non-U.S. companies.

Thomson Research A UT Libraries business database
For foreign corporations, provides summary reports of current financial status plus full text of corporate stockholder reports. If the corporation is traded on a U.S. stock exchange, financial disclosure forms filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission are included.

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TRADE & TARIFF SCHEDULES

Schedule B Export Codes (Foreign Trade Classification Schedule) <http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/schedules/b/>, also Ref. HF1455.O44
Trade transactions are classified by product and assigned a 10-digit identification code. The export codes are called Schedule B and are the official commodity classifications used in reporting U. S. export statistics.

Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the U.S. <http://www.usitc.gov/tata/hts/index.htm>
Import codes for commodities are found in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HST). Available here are the full text of the codes for browsing, a simplified version, and a database for searching, .

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TRADE INFORMATION & REGULATIONS

Country Commerce A UT Libraries business database
Designed to help executive decision-making about business opportunities in 65 of the world's major countries. Covers laws, regulations, taxes, investment climate, etc.

Country Commercial Guides
Prepared by U.S. embassies and federal agencies. CCG's summarize the facts about doing business in a particular country. The CCG's are available within StatUSA/National Trade Data Bank, a UT Libraries business database. Choose the NTDB, then the Country Commercial Guides under "Market and Country Research."

Country Finance A UT Libraries business database
In-depth information on the financial, regulatory, and economic environment of 48 major economies around the world, and on international financial techniques and cross-border sources of financing.

Doing ebusiness in... <http://www.ebusinessforum.com/>
From the Economist Intelligence Unit, individual surveys of e-business infrastructure, regulation, taxation, and key issues in over 60 nations. Click on "Doing Ebusiness in..." on the top menu bar.

Exporters Encyclopedia Ref.HF3011 .E9
Comprehensive foreign trade guide with information on trade contacts, export regulations, document requirements, transportation and communication facilities, etc. for nations worldwide.

Global Insight A UT Libraries business database
Global Insight provides a comprehensive overview, including risk ratings, of the political, economic, and business environment in 186 countries. Within an individual country report, look at the sections on legal, tax, operational, and security environments.

Stat-USA/National Trade Data Bank A UT Libraries business database
Locate foreign country background and data in this database of full text documents from U.S. government agencies concerned with foreign trade. Has both foreign trade data and economic overviews of countries around the world.

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TRADE STATISTICS

Foreign Trade Statistics <http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/statistics/index.html>
From the U.S. Bureau of the Census, current and historical export/import statistics by country and by product category.

Index to International Statistics (IIS) Ref. Z7551.A3153
Helps to locate specific statistical data found in publications issued by international agencies such as the United Nations, OAS, OECD, WHO, etc. Nearly all materials indexed here are available in the library in paper or microfiche. Available as part of LexisNexis Statistical, a UT Libraries business database.

International Trade Statistics Yearbook Ref. HF91. U473
Provides data on foreign trade of individual countries, including both overall trends and specific commodities.

Stat-USA/National Trade Data Bank A UT Libraries business database
Has both foreign trade data and economic overviews of foreign nations. Based on full text documents from U.S. government agencies concerned with international affairs.

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LOCATING ARTICLES on INTERNATIONAL TRADE & FOREIGN COUNTRIES

Business Source Premier A UT Libraries business database
Search by company name, product, or subject in this index of 3000 popular, trade, and scholarly business journals; coverage begins in the 1970s. Full text is available for most of the titles beginning in 1991.

Factiva A UT Libraries business database
Search the full text of over 8,000 newspapers, periodicals, wire services, media transcripts from sources around the world for articles about companies, products, and subjects.

General BusinessFile International A UT Libraries business database
Indexes business magazines, newspapers, and trade journals and can be searched for company names, products, and subjects. Some full text articles included.

Global Insight A UT Libraries business database
Provides the full text of daily briefs, analysis, and special reports on business and economic news around the world. Also has overviews of the political, economic, and business environment in 186 countries.

Lexis-Nexis Academic A UT Libraries business database
Search both the News and the Business sections of this database for the full text of articles from a variety of sources about international business and foreign trade. Can limit coverage to foreign publications.

RDS Business & Industry A UT Libraries business database
This index of trade and industry journals is a primary source of corporate, industry and product information. Full text available for most articles. International scope.

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LOCATING BOOKS

Use the UT Libraries catalog to find call numbers and locations of books about international trade. Try any of these subject headings in the catalog: Business Etiquette; (country name)--Commerce; Export Marketing; Intercultural Communication; Investments, American; Investments, Foreign; Manners and Customs; National Characteristics.

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Created and maintained by Karmen Crowther, Business Librarian
Last revision:2/28/09