The current international economy is a system whose elements are politically sovereign states, multinational corporations and other economic actors. The system developed by the basis of international division of labor, resulting in metabolic processes, production, consumption beyond the scope of national economies and become international. Relationships that arise between market agents in the process of international production, exchange, distribution and consumption of manufactured products in the literature are called international economic relations. International trade is the main form of international economic relations. It includes trade in goods and services.
Foreign trade of any country consists of two opposing flows: imports (goods and services purchased by residents of the country from foreign companies) and exports (sales of goods and services by residents of the country to foreign firms). International trade has become a truly developed intensively in the XIX century. Less than 100 years, the volume of global commodity has grown 20-fold, whereas in the past few centuries, he just tripled. During the XIX century, the growth rate of international trade for the first time began consistently outpace the growth in world production. World trade in 1913 reached 33% of world production, although in 1800 it amounted to only 3% of total production. Thus, it is in the XIX century, began the process of economic globalization. In the XIX century celebrated not only the unprecedented growth of international trade, but also changed its character. The spice trade, which flourished in the past century has been replaced by an exchange of commodities.