Kerim Allam

Contract logistics is the outsourcing of resource management tasks to a third-party company. Contract logistics companies handle activities such as designing and planning supply chains, designing facilities, warehousing, transporting and distributing goods, processing orders and collecting payments, managing inventory and even providing certain aspects of customer service.

A trade deficit can occur for a number of reasons, but typically a country has a deficit when it's unable to produce enough goods for its consumers and businesses.

For example, a country might have a limited amount of natural resources and as a result, needs to import raw materials such as lumber or oil to satisfy the country's demand for those commodities. Countries might also specialize in specific goods or industries.

For example, Canada exports seafood, oil, and lumber, while China exports electronics, clothing, footwear, and steel. A land-locked country would have no access to the sea and would need to import seafood to satisfy its' consumer demand.

As a result, a trade deficit isn't necessarily a bad sign for an economy. On the contrary, a deficit could be a signal that a country’s consumers are wealthy enough to purchase more goods than their country produces.

The expenditure method is a system for calculating gross domestic product (GDP) that combines consumption, investment, government spending, and net exports. It is the most common way to estimate GDP. It says everything that the private sector, including consumers and private firms, and government spend within the borders of a particular country, must add up to the total value of all finished goods and services produced over a certain period of time. This method produces nominal GDP, which must then be adjusted for inflation to result in the real GDP.
The expenditure method may be contrasted with the income approach for calculated GDP.

The import and export price indexes (MXP) measure changes in the prices of non-military goods and services coming in and out of the United States.
MXPs are published for many different types of commodities, goods and service industries, location of origin, and location of destination. The indexes are updated once a month and are produced by the Bureau of Labor Statistics' (BLS) International Price Program (IPP).

Duty charges for exporting the goods from the seller's port of destination are the responsibility of the seller. However, duty charges at the buyer's port of destination (import duties) are the responsibility of the buyer.