A World Of Goods

 

International trading companies such as Boles & Co. ("Our Man in Zurich, Tokyo, and Hong Kong," January) may become large and profitable, but they won't help the bulk of small American businesses break into the export market. The trading company buys where it finds the best price. Its allegiance is strictly to the market and its own profitability.

Export management companies, on the other hand, act as an export department for small American manufacturers that either cannot afford a full-time department or haven't yet gained export expertise. The differences in philosophies are significant.

If, for example, a trading company were selling an American manufacturer's non-dairy creamer in Hong Kong and it found a cheaper product in Mexico, the trading company would drop the American product and sell the Mexican. As I said above, its allegiance is to price and profitability. An export management company, under the same circumstances, would be loyal to its American client, even if loyalty meant sacrificing some profitability.

Export management companies may not grow as large or as fast as Jack Boles predicts that his own company will grow, but with their allegiance to American producers, they will do this country's balance of trade a world more good.