Can the General Trading Company Be Transplanted? -Comparison of General Trading Companies in a Countries-

Abstract

During the 1970s the consistent growth of Japanese sogo-shoshas in the midst of the worldwide economic recession caught the eyes of policy makers in a number of countries. The governments of developing countries such as Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Brazil recognized Japanese sogo-shoshas as a leading force in the Japanese export front and one of the major causes of her trade surplus. (1) These countries, therefore, started to develop their own GTC systems in order to survive under mounting pressure from the neo-protectionist moves adopted by major importing countries. Even the US, whose keynote economic principle has been free enterprise with minimum government intervention beyond the regulation of monopolistic activities, enacted the Export Trading Company Act in October 1982 in the hopes of improving its deteriorating balance of trade.