Here is an article that might help: http://www.entrepreneur.com/startingabus��I m trying to get into imports and exports myself.
Hi, first of all you need to establish several things before exporting:1. Do you already have a potential customer or customers in the destination countries (Scandinavia)?2. What is your exportation offer? That is, how much can you export per year, per order, or however frequent you will be selling to these customers.3. What is your INCOTERM (International Terms of Commerce)? You can do a web search for you to find out what these are and what they mean in international contracts.4. The INCOTERM will determine who pays what and up to what point is either seller or buyer responsible for the shipment/order. This brings us to the HTS (Harmonized Tariff Schedule) Number of your product (peanut butter) . You can find out here: http://dataweb.usitc.gov/scripts/tariff_current.aspa. The first 6 digits are international for you to check up with Scandinavian Peninsula customs on tariffs, duties, and health regulations to import into those countries.b. The digits up to the 8th or 10th, depending on the country, are import HTS numbers for the country s schedule you re consulting.5. Are you the manufacturer of the product or a broker? This will determine who you negotiate with your customers or potential customers, especially on production deadlines and, most importantly, price.6. Do your math to determine landed unit cost according to the INCOTERM you want to negotiate. Consider Cost, Revenue, and Profit equations (this last one only applies if you know the target price in the destination market for your product).These questions are just the tip of the iceberg before considering exporting or making contact with potential customers. Finally, do understand that international business operations are impersonal for which many potential customers will be rude, speak bad English (as the accepted international language), and simply won t be interested in dealing with you if they sense your lack of experience in these basic questions.My advise for you is to hire an international broker. You can find out more by doing an international broker search, logistics company search or visiting www.asesoriainternacional.com in Mexico or www.door2doorlogistics.com in the US for more information.Notice that many brokers will only handle freight but not negotiations, so do a bit of Research on the above before making export offers or hiring brokers on different areas. Furthermore, always, always seek a second opinion.
