…Oil is a prime example. Much of the world's oil is imported from the Middle East and other countries who have a surplus to countries like the United States that do not have enough oil production domestically to support all of their energy needs. While countries do benefit from import and exports there needs to be a trade balance to protect the country's domestic market. If a country wishes to decrease imports because profits are at a loss, the market is flooded, or if it wishes to protect its own domestic companies; the government can impose a tariff. A tariff is a tax on goods upon importation, which increases the price of that which has been imported making that product less competitive in a market with similar products made domestically, Additionally, tariffs provide the funds to the government of the importing country.

Exports also mean revenue to the exporting country as countries wishing to import those goods pay or trade for them. Globalization of good, services and markets has increased international trade dramatically. To help manage the rapidly expanding globalization of trade the World Trade Organization, WTO, came into being. The WTO is an international organization, consisting of 153 member nations, designed to supervise and liberalize international trade. The WTO governs trade between nations; negotiating and enforcing new trade agreements between countries. International trade does have its costs and barriers that may serve as a detriment to trade. Countries may group together to navigate these waters and make trading easier. NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement, is an example of this. NAFTA includes the United States, Canada, and Mexico, and removes most barriers to trade and investment between them by eliminating some tariffs and other non-tariff barriers.