TALE QUALE To the Top

Means “as it arrives”; used in contracts for shipment of grain in bulk to signify that the consignor will accept the goods in whatever condition they arrive, so long as they were in good order at time of shipment, as evidenced by a certificate of quality issued by an impartial inspection agency.

TALLY SHEET

List of cargo, incoming and outgoing, checked by a tally clerk on the dock.

TANKER

A vessel designed for transporting fluid cargoes in bulk but also used for the transport of grain.

TARE WEIGHT

The weight of a container and/or packing materials without the weight of goods it contains.

TARGETED EXPORT ASSISTANCE (TEA)

Authorized by Congress in 1985, is administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. TEA provides financial support or CCC commodities to U.S. agricultural producers whose wares face unfair policies in competitor nations.

TARGET PRICE

An important concept within the Common Agricultural Policy of the European Economic Community. It represents an optimum wholesale price within the community for given commodity. In devising this optimum price, the EEC must regard the income requirements of farmers, consumer needs, and world market prices. When a commodity price falls below the target price the EEC intervenes to purchase target.

TARIFF

A duty, or tax, levied on goods transported from one Customs area to another. Tariffs raise the prices of imported goods, making them less competitive within the market of the importing country. “Tariff” often refers to a comprehensive list or “schedule” of merchandise with the rate of duty to be paid to the government for importing products listed.

TARIFF ACT OF 1930

U.S. protectionist legislation that raised tariff rates on most articles imported by the United States, triggering comparable tariff increases by U.S. trading partners. The Tariff Act of 1930 is also known as the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act.

TARIFF AND TRADE ACT OF 1984

Statute providing authority for the President to negotiate a free-trade area with Israel, renewing the GSP program, making “upstream subsidies” countervailable, and expanding the President’s authority under Section 301 of the Trade Act with regard to trade in services and foreign direct investment. Also expands steel import programs to require modernization and reinvestment.

TARIFF BARRIER (TB)

These barriers, which are imposed by individual countries, should not deter exporting to a country and can usually be satisfied by making alterations in packaging, documentation and\or language.

TARIFF (FREIGHT)

A list of charges issued by a common carrier for transportation services. Commonly, the rate, or cost of transportation, varies by commodity or product. Charges are imposed by standard units of measure (e.g., ton, cubic meter, board foot).

TARIFF HARMONIZATION

The process of making tariffs more alike by eliminating or reducing pronounced disparities in tariff rates on the same item. There are four harmonization techniques:

1. Reduction of rates by an agreed percentage that would depend on the initial height of the tariff in the country concerned.

2. Reduction of rates by a percentage that would depend on the initial height of the tariff in the other participating countries.

3. Reduction or elimination of differences between actual rates and lower “narrative” or “target” rates and

4. Reduction of average duties in a given sector.

TARIFF RATE QUOTAS

Permits a specified quantity of merchandise to be entered or withdrawn for consumption at a reduced duty rate during a specified period.

TARIFF SCHEDULE

Comprehensive list of the goods a country may import and the import duties applicable to each product.

TAX HOLIDAY

A period of time (usually several years) during which an enterprise is exempt from some or all taxes. This device if often used in conjunction with the economic development programs as an inducement to attract industry.

TAX INCIDENCE

The place where a tax finally comes to rest. For example, a value added tax is passed through the marketing process to the final purchaser.

TECHNICAL DATA

Information which includes records, diagrams, and other data with regard to a business or an engineering or exploration operation, whether conducted inside or outside the U.S. and whether on paper, cards, photographs, blueprints, tapes, microfiche, film, or other media that can be transferred to overseas users only in accordance with the Office of Export Administration regulations as defined in part 379. “Information of any kind that can be used, or adopted for use, in the design, production, manufacture, utilization, or reconstruction of articles or materials. The data may take a tangible form, such as a model, prototype, blueprint, or operating manual; or they may take an intangible form such as technical service”.

TEMPORARY IMPORTATION UNDER BOND (T.I.B.)

Articles of all types that are not imported for sale or for sale on approval may enter the United States temporarily free of duty under bond, provided they are exported or destroyed under Customs Service supervision within one year from the date of importation. Generally, the amount of the bond is double the estimated duties. The one-year period for exportation may, upon application to district or port director, be extended for one or more further periods which, when added to the initial one year, shall not exceed a total of three years. Temporary importations under bond are commonly used to accommodate equipment sent to the United States for repair, sample for the purpose of soliciting orders, and articles for testing.

TEMPORARY TARIFF SURCHARGE

An increase rate of duty on imports temporarily applied, usually to aid in correcting a balance of payments deficit.

TENOR

The nature of a draft’s maturity, being either a “sight” draft (payable upon presentation), or a “time” draft (payable at some determinable future date, e.g. 30 days after sight or 60 days after bill of lading date.)

TERMINALS

The total of three charges made against each “ton” of outgoing and incoming cargo to cover wharfage (to maintain the wharf), harbor dues (to maintain the harbor), and loading and unloading charges. Terminals are only a few dollars per ton. Ocean vessels are also charged terminals.

TERMINAL OPERATOR

A firm furnishing wharfage, warehousing, container facilities, or similar services to oceangoing common carriers. Such firms are subject to regulation by the Federal Maritime Commission.

TERMS OF DELIVERY

The portion of a sales contract that indicates the point at which title and risk of loss of merchandise passes from the seller to the buyer. (See Incoterms.)

TERMS OF TRADE

The volume of exports that can be traded for a given volume of imports. Changes in the terms of trade are generally measured by comparing changes in the ratio of export prices to import prices. The terms of trade are considered to have improved when a given volume of exports can be exchanged for a larger volume of imports. Some economists have discerned an overall deteriorating trend in this ratio for developing countries as a whole. Other economists maintain that whereas the terms of trade may have become less favorable for certain countries during certain periods-and even for all developing countries during some periods-the same terms of trade have improved for other developing countries in the same periods and perhaps for most developing countries during other periods.

TERRITORIALSEAS

A bank of sea adjacent to a nation’s coastline within which the coastal state exercises sovereign control. In recent years, various nations have asserted that the bank runs from twelve to two hundred miles to sea, or to the limits of the continental shelf. How far the territorial sea runs out from the shore remains an area of intense debate.

TEXTILE VISA SYSTEM To the Top

A form of export quantity control imposed by foreign countries on its textile exports to the United States as well as to other countries. These quantity controls are based on agreements made between the exporting country and, in our case, the United States under a bilateral textile agreement which sets limits by specific textile category numbers for groups of textile articles covered thereunder.

THIRD FLAG CARRIER

The shipment of merchandise on a vessel that does not fly the flag of the importing or exporting country.

THIRD PARTY RECORDKEEPER

Any Customs broker, attorney or accountant.

THIRD WORLD

That group of less developed and developing nations not included in the political camps of either the Western industrialized states or the communist bloc. Most nations in Latin America, Africa, and Asia fall into this category. The term is commonly applied to nations with a per capita income under one thousand dollars.

THRESHOLD PRICE

A minimum import price for commodities established under the Common Agricultural Policy of the European Economic Community, set so as not to hamper sales of EEC produce within the community.

THROUGH BILL OF LADING (T.B.L.)

A single bill of lading covering both the domestic and international carriage of an export shipment.

THROUGH RATE

The total rate from the point of origin to final destination.

TIED LOAN

A loan made by a government agency that requires a foreign borrower to spend the proceeds in the lender’s country.

TIMBER TON

A unit of measure, equal to forty cubic feet, used to measure wood and wood products.

TIME DRAFT

A draft which matures either a certain number of days after acceptance or a certain number of days after the date of the draft.

TIME-VOLUME AGREEMENT

An agreement between carrier and shipper providing a charge that is discounted from the published tariff rate in exchange for set volume guarantees over a set period of time.

TIR CONVENTION

An international agreement designed to speed international cargo movements across third countries en route to final destination. Originally established in 1949 as a means of speeding European road transportation, the convention now applies to other modes of transport as well. Each nation adhering to the convention designates an organization to handle the issuance of carnets, or transit documents. This organization issues carnets to approved transport firms, thereby permitting the truck or other vehicle to pass over the territory of any member state without custom inspection until arrival in the country of final destination.

TITLE, PASSING

The passing of title to exported goods is determined in large measure by the selling terms. If an exporter sells goods c.i.f. he may be presumed to pass ownership and tender of documents. However, he may ship on a bill of lading drawn to his order, to prevent the buyer from gaining possession of the goods until the draft is paid or accepted. In this case he retains a security title to the goods; this is, a title for security purposes only, until the financial arrangement is carried out. Caution should be taken by the exporter because depending on the laws of the buyers country he may not be able to force passage of title without payment having been received or the buyer having accepted delivery of goods or a clear understanding by the buyer being understood and accepted.

TITLE XI FINANCING

A provision in the Merchant Marine Act of 1936 for the U.S. Government to act as guarantor on debt obligations contracted by U.S. citizens for purpose of constructing vessels to trade under the American flag.

TOKYO ROUND

GATT negotiations begun in 1973. Involved more participants than previous sessions, including many developing countries, resulted in a series of international agreements on significant tariff rate reductions, and also agreements on nontariff measures, such as subsidies, valuation, and technical barriers.

TOLERANCE

An allowance made for differences in weights due to variations in scales or inherent nature of goods.

TON

Freight rates from liner cargo generally are quoted on the basis of a certain rate per ton, depending on the nature of the commodity. This ton, however, may be weight ton or a measurement ton.

TON-DEADWEIGHT

Indicates the carrying capacity to the ship in terms of the weight in tons of the cargo, fuel, provisions and passengers which a vessel can carry.

TON-DISPLACEMENT

The weight of the volume of water which the fully loaded ship displaces.

TONNAGE YEARS

Shall be computed from the date of the first entry of the vessel concerned, without regard to the rate of payment made at that entry, and shall expire on the day preceding the corresponding date of the following year. There may be five payments at the maximum (6-cents) and five at minimum (2-cents) rate during a tonnage year, so that the maximum assessment of tonnage duty may amount to 40 cents per net ton for the tonnage year of a vessel engaged in alternating trade.

TONNAGE TAX

A Federal tax imposed upon commercial vessels entering the territory of the United States.

TON-REGISTERED

Indicates the cubical contents or burden of a vessel in tons of 100 cubic feet. The space within a vessel in units of 100 cubic feet.

TRACKING

A carrier’s system of recording movement intervals of shipments from origin to destination.

TRACTOR

A vehicle designed and used primarily for drawing other vehicles and not so constructed as to carry a load other than part of the weight of the vehicle and load so drawn.

TRADE To the Top

A term used to define a geographic area or specific route served by carriers.

TRADE ACCEPTANCE

An accepted time draft whereby the actual buyer signs the word “accepted” across the face of the draft and promises to pay the exporter by a specified date. This instrument is only as good as the buyer’s credit.

TRADE ACT OF 1974

Statute granting the President broad authority to negotiate international agreements reducing trade barriers. See trade adjustment assistance, countervailing duties, dumping, generalized system of preferences, most-favored-nation treatment, and Tokyo Round.

TRADE ADJUSTMENT ASSISTANCE

Financial and technical assistance to firms, workers, and communities to help them adjust to rising import competition. Authorized under the Trade Act of 1974.

TRADE AGREEMENTS ACT OF 1979

Statute implementing the trade agreements negotiated by the United States under the Trade Act of 1974 during the Tokyo Round.

TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM (TDP)

Finances the planning of projects in developing countries that are potential export markets for U.S. goods and services. It operates as part of the International Development Cooperative Agency.

TRADE CREATION

The substitution of lower cost foreign goods for higher cost domestic manufactures.

TRADE DEFICIT

An excess of imports over exports during a given period of time, (usually a year) as measured in units of currency.

TRADE DIVERSION

The shift in purchases from sources outside a free-trade area (within which tariffs have been eliminated) to a union member, even though the cost of purchasing outside the union (before duty) is less than procuring from within. The absence of duty among members of the free-trade area more than offsets the lower unit costs available from outside suppliers.

TRADE EXPANSION ACT OF 1962

Statute providing authority for U.S. participation in the Kennedy Round of trade negotiations. Also authorized the trade adjustment assistance program and Office of the Special Trade Representative. Superseded by the Trade Act of 1974.

TRADE GAP

The spread between the value of a nation’s merchandise imports and a lesser value of merchandise exports during a fixed time period.

TRADEMARK

A mark used in trade to identify and distinguish the goods of one manufacturer from those of another. Any distinctive word, numbers, drawing, pictures, emblems, monograms, signatures, name, symbol, figure, letter, form, or device, or any combination thereof adopted and used in commerce by a manufacturer or merchant to identify his goods and distinguish them from those manufactured or sold by another may be registered with the Federal Government by its owner.

TRADEMARK REGISTRATION TREATY (TRT)

An international agreement which provides for the protection of trademarks in adhering states by means of a single international filing.

TRADE MISSION

A mission to a foreign country organized to promote trade through the establishment of contracts and exposure to the commercial environment. They are frequently organized by Federal, State, or local agencies.

TRADE OPPORTUNITIES PROGRAM (TOP)

An export service of the International Trade Administration (ITA) that provides companies with current sales leads from international firms seeking to by or represent their products or services. TOP leads are available electronically from the Department of Commerce and are redistributed by the private sector in printed or electronic form.

TRADE POLICY COMMITTEE (TPC)

Senior inter-agency trade committee of the U.S. Government. Chaired by the U.S Trade Representative, that provides broad guidance to the President on trade policy issues. Members include the Secretaries of Commerce, State, Treasury, Agriculture, and Labor.

TRADE PREFERENCES

Certain trade concessions, usually preferential tariff treatment, granted by a nation to some countries but not others.

TRADE SURPLUS

A nation’s excess of exports over imports during a given time frame.

TRADE WEIGHTED AVERAGE (TWA)

The term used to identify the mechanism for determining the new duty rate where items with different duty rates were combined into a single item. The rate for the new “grouped” item would be based on that item previously most traded. However, where no one item had a clear lead, the proposed duty would be based on the Trade Weighted Average of all the items, based on their volume of trade over the previous three year period.

TRADING COMPANY

A firm engaged in the purchase, distribution, and marketing of products in international trade. Generally, the trading company deals with products of unrelated firms as well as the manufacturers of joint ventures in which it is involved.

TRADING WITH THE ENEMY ACT

An act of Congress enacted in 1917 and amended over the years, that grants to the President, during times of war or national emergency, the authority to prohibit or regulate trade, investments, remittances, travel, and virtually any economic transactions with any designated country or its nationals, wherever located. These controls are administered primarily by the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the U.S. Treasury Department.

TRAILER

A vehicle without motive power designed to be drawn by another vehicle and so constructed that no part of its weight rests upon the towing vehicle.

TRAILER ON FLAT CAR (TOFC)

The movement of a trailer, inclusive of wheels, on a railroad flatcar.

TRAMP

Contract (private) carriers, and normally carry full shiploads of a single commodity, usually in bulk. In most cases, there is only one shipper, but two or more shippers of the same kind of cargo occasionally may use a single ship.

TRAMP SHIPPING To the Top

Sailings are based on cargo commitments that vary with the vessel’s employment and are usually different for every voyage. There is no expected repetition of voyages as a normal part of tramp operation. Each trip is scheduled individually, subject to the requirements of the cargo to be carried and the particular route to be followed.

TRANSACTION STATEMENT

A document that delineates the terms and conditions agreed upon between the importer and exporter.

TRANSACTION VALUE

The transaction value of imported (instant) merchandise is the price actually paid or payable for the merchandise when sold for exportation into the United States. Included in the transaction value are, the packing costs incurred by the buyer, any selling commission incurred by the buyer, the value of any assist, any royalty or license fee that the buyer is required to pay as a condition of the sale and the proceeds, accruing to the seller, of any subsequent resale, disposal or use of the imported merchandise. These amounts are added only to the extent that each is not included in the price, and is based on information establishing the accuracy of the amount.

TRANSACTION VALUE OF IDENTICAL OR SIMILAR MERCHANDISE

An alternative method of valuation if the imported merchandise is disqualified for appraisement under transaction value. Identical merchandise is merchandise that is identical in all respects to, produced in the same country as, and produced by the same person as the merchandise being appraised. Similar merchandise is merchandise that was produced in the same country and by the same person as the merchandise being appraised, is like the merchandise being appraised in characteristics and component materials, and is commercially interchangeable with the merchandise being appraised. Similar merchandise does not include merchandise that incorporates or reflects any engineering, development, artwork, design work, or plan or sketch supplied free or at reduced cost by the buyer of the merchandise for use in connection with production or sale for export to the U.S. of the merchandise.

TRANS ATLANTIC AGREEMENT (TAA)

Agreement among conference and non-conference steamship lines to jointly set rates, charges, and restrict capacity between the United States and Europe, United Kingdom and Scandanavia.

TRANSFERABLE LETTER OF CREDIT

A letter of credit permitting the beneficiary to pass the rights and protections of credit to another. The other party then becomes a “second beneficiary.”

TRANSFEREE

The party who has received the benefits of a letter of credit by action of a transfer.

TRANSFER COSTS

Cost associated with the movement of goods from one country to another. Transfer costs may be divided into two categories: physical transfer (i.e., transportation and handling) and governmental regulations (i.e., duties and exchange controls.)

TRANSFER OF TECHNOLOGY

The movement of modern or scientific methods of production or distribution from one enterprise, institution or country to another, as through foreign investment, international trade licensing of patent rights, technical assistance or training.

TRANSFER PRICING

This is the term used for the pricing policies used by multinational companies for selling goods or services from one unit of the company to another. Such prices may diverge from the prices used in equivalent arm’s-length transactions.

TRANSFEROR

The beneficiary of a transferable letter of credit who causes a bank to transfer the credit to another party.

TRANSFER RISK

The risk that remittance of the currency of your receivable by the debtor will not be permitted by the government of the debtor, or, conversion of that currency to your functional currency will not be permitted.

TRANSIT INTERNATIONAL ROUTIER (T.I.R. CARNET)

A customs document that simplifies, facilitates, and expedites customs procedures related to the transborder movement of containerized goods without the payment of duties, taxes and deposits and without customs examination.

TRANSPARENCY

Visibility and clarity of laws and regulations. Some of the codes of conduct negotiated during the Tokyo Round sought to increase the transparency of non-tariff barriers that impede trade.

TRANSPORTATION

The movement of traffic from one place to another.

TRANSPORTATION AND EXPORT ENTRY (T & E)

Customs entry used for merchandise temporarily in the U.S. for re-export to another foreign country. Cargo moves in bond, without payment of duty.

TRANSSHIPMENT

Transshipment means a transfer and reloading during the course of carriage from the port of loading or place of dispatch or taking in charge to the port of discharge or place of destination either from one conveyance or vessel to another conveyance or vessel within the same mode of transport or from one mode of transport to another mode of transport.

TRAVELER’S LETTER OF CREDIT

A letter addressed by a bank to its correspondent banks, either in the same country or in foreign countries, authorizing the person named therein to draw drafts on the correspondent to the extent of the credit. The person in whose favor the credit is issued deposits with the issuing bank the sum equal to the letter of credit amount, plus any banking charges.

TREATY (INTERNATIONAL LAW)

A formal written compact entered into by sovereign nations. Customarily, an agreement provides that the treaty will not come into force until it has been ratified, i.e., approved by each government in accordance with its respective constitutional process.

TRIGGER PRICE MECHANISM (TPM)

A U.S. system for monitoring imported steel to identify imports that are possibly being “dumped” in the United States or subsidized by the governments of exporting countries. The minimum price under this system is based on the estimated landed cost at a U.S. port of entry of steel produced by the world’s most efficient producers. Imported steel entering the United States below that price may “trigger” formal anti-dumping investigations by the Department of Commerce and the U.S. International Trade Commission. The TPM was in effect between early 1978 and March 1980. It was reinstated in October 1980 and suspended for all products except for stainless steel wire in January 1982.

TRUCKLOAD

Truckload rates apply where the tariff shows a truckload minimum weight. Charges will be at the truckload minimum weight unless weight is higher.

TRUST RECEIPT

Release of merchandise by a bank to a buyer in which the bank retains title to the merchandise. The buyer who obtains the goods for manufacturing or sales purposes, is obligated to maintain the goods (or the proceeds from their sales) distinct from the remainder of his\her assets and to hold them ready for repossession by the bank.

TURNKEY CONTRACT

A agreement under which the contractor assumes responsibility to the client for constructing productive installations and ensuring that they operate effectively before turning them over to the client. By centering responsibility for the contributions of all participants in the project in his own hands, the contractor is often able to arrange more favorable financing terms than the client could. The responsibility of the contractor ends when he hands the completed installation over to the client.

TWENTY-FOOT EQUIVALENT UNIT (TEU) To the Top

A measure of a vessels cargo carrying capacity, equivalent to one standard twenty-foot ocean container, measuring twenty feet by eight by eight feet. One forty-foot container constitutes two TEU’s.