International business, especially export-import trade, is no longer an option, but a necessity for today's apparel industry to grow and generate profitsâ?"or just to survive in the global marketplace. The decision to export or import is best based on a company or individual entrepreneur's careful and thorough analysis of its internal and external resources and capabilities. Essentials of Exporting and Importing provides the merchandising, marketing, or business student a practical, basic guide for importing and exporting products, services, or technology, while maintaining compliance with government policies. Calling upon the knowledge and expertise of industry professionals and government officials as sources, the authors focus on the policies, procedures, and practices essential for success in the dynamic and expanding field of international trade.

Harvey R. Shoemack is an international business and marketing specialist and adjunct faculty at three Chicago-area colleges. For more than 30 years, he has helped American firms access foreign markets, while also assisting international firms and organizations seeking business in the United States. Shoemack founded The International Marketing Center, Ltd. in 1976 and has represented or provided training for such major clients as: Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO), Dai-Ichi Kangyo and Sanyo banks, Banque Nationale de Paris, Petersen Manufacturing Co., Inc., The China Exhibition Corp., The Trade, Technology and Transfer Corporation (Russia), PHH Fantus Corp., Mardel Laboratories, Inc., Val-Test Distributors and Komatsu-Dresser Co. He is active in many professional and international trade organizations.

Patricia Mink Rath, MS, is a consultant in marketing education in Winnetka, Illinois. Her fashion merchandising experience includes work as a retail executive in the fashion departments of specialty and department stores in the Chicago area, Boston, and San Francisco. She has taught college level courses in fashion marketing and merchandising, consumer behavior, retail buying and management, French culture and language for over three decades. Fluent in French, she has led fashion merchandising classes in Paris and Provence. Mink Rath has traveled in Europe, Central America, and Asia and gives illustrated lectures on fashion in both English and French. She is a lifetime member of the Alliance Francaise du North Shore, Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE) and the Marketing Education Association (MEA). She is co-author of a number of texts and other educational materials for students and teachers. Mink Rath is co-author of Marketing Fashion: A Global Perspective (Fairchild Books, 2012), Essentials of Exporting and Importing: U.S.Trade Policies, Procedures and Practices (Fairchild Books, 2010) and The Why of the Buy: Consumer Behavior and Fashion (Fairchild Books, 2008).