One of the advantages of the international trade is that it gives a country an access to a larger market for its goods and services. The country exports its goods, services to other countries, and makes a profit.(Admin, 2014). For instance, Japan is the third largest economy around the world. Its economy is mainly based on exported goods. They export variety of high technology products to other countries including cars, engine parts, electronic, medical, and technical equipment (Workman, 2015). Without international trade Japan would not develop as it did.
Another advantage of the international trade is that it enables people to get access to goods and services that are not available in their countries. For example, a country cannot be produced certain goods but with international trade people can have those goods. Computers, cars, home appliances or cell phones are generally not manufactured in under developed countries, but people can still have these products with international trade. On the other hand, developed countries also need import goods and services. Japan has no oil reserves of its own, but it is world's fourth largest consumer of oil. Japan has to import all of its oil (Why do countries trade, n.d.).
One of the disadvantages of the international trade is that it may lead to over consumption of a country's natural resources. (Faroog, 2014).This rapid consumption is due to the relatively large international market, and consistently growing demand due to growing global economy. Countries, which are heavily dependent on their natural resources as primary export goods, are the most vulnerable. Countries, which rely on commodities like oil, and timber, are good examples. Depletion of oil resources can lead to sudden drop in oil revenues, and deforestation can have long-term environmental effects, which can damage the way of life in any country.
Another disadvantage of the international trade is that it makes