Text 8. Foreign trade of the USA

Task: Read the texts and answer the questions.

Text 1. The Levi’s Story

Levi’s make the most famous and popular trousers in the world. They are made strong cotton which originally came from Nimes in France. ‘De Nimes’ became denim.

Levi Strauss was a German immigrant who arrived in San Francisco in 1853. First, he made tents for gold prospectors. Then, he started to make trousers from the same material. In 1873, Levi’s dyed the trousers blue. Levi’s headquarters today is still in San Francisco and, in 1993, they sold 50 million pairs of their ‘501’ blue jeans.

The company was not always successful. In the 1980s, they had problems but they changed management and, in 1985, Bob Haas became President of the company. With large investment in marketing and advertising, Levi’s relaunched the original 501 jeans. The campaign was a huge success. In Great Britain the advertising was so successful that sales of 501 jeans rose by 800%!

Today, about 16,000,000 pairs of 501 jeans are sold in Western Europe and they are all made factories in Scotland and France. More than half of Levi’s profits come from export.

The factory in France employs about 540 people who produce 18,000 pairs of jeans per day. With thirty-five factories in the US, Levi’s is major employer, particularly in the South. Unfortunately, because Levi’s are such a popular product there are many ‘pirate’ copies made also. In 1993, for example, police throughout the world found 2,000,000 fake pairs of Levi’s jeans.

In the future, Levi’s hope that more companies will allow casual dress so that sales will rise as office employees start to wear jeans to work.

1.      What was Live Strauss’s firs job in America?

2. Where are the company’s headquarters today?

3. Why did sales rise in the 1980s?

Text 2. LVMH reports strong sales

       LVMH (Louis Vuitton, Moёt Hennessy) manufactures and sells luxury goods, such as designer clothers, fashion accessories, perfumes and cosmetics, watches and jewelry. There are several companies in the group. LVMH has 60 famous brands, such as Louis Vuitton, Civenchy, Kenzo, Christian Dior and Donna Karan. It has 1.500 stores worldwide and is expanding its network. It employs 56.000 people. Its head office is in France, but 63% of its staff work outside France.

       Sales at its Louis Vuitton division rose 22% to €1.175bn ($ 1/26bn) in the fourth quarter. Total sales at the LVMH group rose 4% to €12/7bn last year. Bernard Arnault, chairman, said that the fashion and leather goods division of LVMH made “excellent progress”.

       LVMH had excellent sales because of its strong brands, store openings and successful new product launches. One of its new products, the Tambour watch, did not have huge sales but it brought customers into the stores.

       Sales in the US, France and Japan were good. Fewer Japanese tourists travelled last year, but they bought more goods in their home market. Recently, LVMH opened a large store in Japan, which is doing well.

       LVMH is a creative and innovative group. It aims to impress its customers with its high quality and long-lasting products. Its new products – particularly in cosmetics – depend a lot on research and development. LVMH controls every detail of the brands’ image.

1. Which of the following were reasons for the increase in LVMH’s sales?

a) well-known products       c) better research

b) new stores                        d) new products

       2. How did the launch of the Tambour watch help LVMH?

       3. In which markets did LVMH sell a lot of products?

Text 3. Guinness: more than just a beer

       When most people hear the word Guinness, they think of the Irish beer of the same name, but in fact the Guinness company is now a multinational with a vast network of joint venture companies, distributors and subsidiaries, and an annual turnover of more than £4 billion. Its products are sold in over 200 countries worldwide.

       Guinness operates mainly in the alcoholic drinks market. Its brands include a number of famous names like Johnnie Walker, Bell’s Scotch whisky, and Gordon’s gin. It owns United Distillers, the most profitable spirits company in the world. It also has a 34% stake in Moёt Hennessy, the French champagne and cognac company, whose owner, LVMH, has a 20% share in Guinness. About three quarters of Guinness group’s profits come from spirits. Guinness beer (called “stout”) is produced in more than 50 countries, and sold in 150. For the moment, the beer company represents only 25% of the group’s profits.

       Apart from alcohol production, the company owns Gleneangels, the world-famous golf hotel in Scotland, and runs a division which publishes The Guinness Book of Records.

       Guinness PLC is based in central London. The company has offices in over 500 countries around the world, with 23.000 employees. Tony Greener is the chairman of a Board which is made up of 6 executive and 6 non-executive directors.

1. What markets does Guinness operate in?

2. What is the main source of company’s profits?

3. What division dealing with publishing does the company run?

Text 4. Company profile

       General Motors, the world’s largest vehicle manufacturer, designs, builds and markets cars and trucks worldwide. In 2001, General Motors earned $1.5 billion on sales of $177.3 billion, excluding special items. It employs about 362.000 people globally.

       General Motors has been the world’s automotive sales leader since 1931. In 2001, General Motors set industry sales records in the United States – its largest market – for total trucks and for sport vehicles.

       General Motors also operates one of the world’s largest and most successful financial services companies, GMAC, which offers automotive, mortgage and business financing and insurance services to customers worldwide.

       Today General Motors has manufacturing operations in more than 30 countries. General Motors’s major markets are North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, Africa and the Middle East.

       General Motors cars and trucks are sold under the following brands: Chevrolet, Pontiac, Buick, Cadillac, Hummer, Saab, Opel.

       General Motors’s OnStar is the industry leader in vehicle communications and information services. It provides more than 2 million subscribers with a variety of services, including personalized assistance, emergency aid, and hand-free, voice-activated access to Internet-based information, including news, sports, weather, e-mail and stock quotes. OnStar is available on many General Motors cars and trucks, as well as select vehicles built by Lexus and Subaru.

       As part of its global groth strategy, the General Motors Group includes major alliances with Fiat Auto Spa, Suzuki Motor Corp. General Motors also has strong technology collaborations with Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co., and vehicle ventures with Toyota and Renault.

1. What goods does General Motors produce and market?

2. How many people does the company employ?

3. What does General Motors’s OnStar specialize in?

4. What are the major General Motors’s markets?

Text 5. 

One of my biggest wishes was to start a business on my own. I was tired of my occupation and wanted to change jobs, so a friend and I decided to open a restaurant. We made all kinds of plans but did not know how complicated everything was going to be!

   First, we had to negotiate with several banks to get a loan. The bank executive at National Bank decided that he could not give us any money no matter how much we argued that we could pay it back. We finally got enough money, however, and then had to find a small building to buy or rent.

    After we got the loans and the building, we hired a company to modernize the inside of building. We describer how we wanted the restaurant to look, and after all we signed the contract. The men began the difficult job of putting in new walls, floors and windows. Before the men finished, however, the executives of the company wanted to increase the cost. My friend told him that we had already negotiated a contract. They could not argue. Their men completed the job as planned in the beginning.

     After they finished the building, we had to buy furniture, plates, and other restaurant items. To save money, we brought our tables and chairs from the manufacturer instead of from a store. We also had to hire a staff of experienced waiters and waitresses and several expert cooks. Because we offered good salaries, it was not difficult to find the kind of staff we wanted.

     Before we opened the restaurant, we carefully described to the staff how the restaurant was going to work. Each member of the staff was going to have certain responsibilities. I would be the executive responsible for business, that is, taking care of bank accounts, paying bills and salaries, etc. My friend would manage the preparation of food and the staff.

     When the restaurant finally opened, business was slow, and a lack of money put stress on both my friend and me. We put some advertisements in the newspapers and on the radio. These helped to increase our business, and now everything is fine; in fact, our restaurant has become one of the most popular in the city. My friend and I see this restaurant as our biggest accomplishment.

1. Why did John want to start a business?

2. What kind of business did they want to start?

3. What was their first step in starting a business?

4. What were their main responsibilities in the restaurant?

5. What helped them to become successful?

Text 6. Teleworking.

The case for and against.

      Would you like to be a teleworkers? Teleworkers are people who work for companies, but not in companies. That is to say, they do company work at home, usually on computers.
  Teleworkers communicate with their supervisors by telephone or fax. They usually transfer information from their own computer to the office computer by electronic means. Some companies also give video phones to their home workers so they can see colleagues when they speak to them.

‘Teleworking’ is becoming more and more popular in Britain and in the USA; (in the USA, it is called ‘telecommuting'). At the moment, about 6% of the working population employed by companies work at home, but experts estimate that this will rise to more than 15% before the end of the century.

There are many reasons for this increase. The biggest advantage for companies is that teleworking reduces their running costs. Fewer employees at work means less office space. Also, computers are now quicker and easier to use, and the price has fallen sharply. For a company which needs more manpower, one of the cheapest solutions can be to train employees in computer skills and to give them a personal computer to use at home.

  But before you apply for a job as a teleworker, you should ask yourself if it is really the best situation for you. Bill Farrar, who works for a big paper recycling company, hasn’t enjoyed his last three months at home. ‘I often fall asleep at the computer because I don’t have anybody to talk to,’ he says. ‘So, at lunchtimes, I often go to the nearest bar – which is just at the end of my road – and then the afternoon is gone!’

Next week, he’s starting a new job in a company where there are five people in one small office. ‘I can’t wait!’ he says.

1. What exactly is a ‘teleworker’?

2. What contact do teleworkers have with their office or head office?

3. What percentage of people in your country work at home, do you think?

4. Why is the number of teleworkers increasing?

5. What are the disadvantages of teleworking?

Text 7. Business talks

Our company is one of the leading manufacturers of engines in Minsk. We produce a wide range of engines for automobile industry. We produce 80 % of engines for home industry and 20 % of our products go to different countries of the world.

Our manufacturing plant has modern facilities to produce engines of different models. The engines of our company are reliable in operation and our customers are satisfied with their modern design and capacity. The company delivers engines to markets of Europe, to the North and the South of America. We are also interested in selling our goods to the countries of the East. The company can guarantee shipment of the goods within 10 days.

We do business with many foreign companies interested in buying our engines. Our goods are in great demand because they are of high quality. When a representative of a foreign company gets instructions to buy engines from our company he arrives in Minsk and contacts our manager to make an appointment. Usually our customers get in touch with our secretary on the phone and the manager invites them to come to his office.

Our manager and the representative of a foreign company who got instructions to sign a contract for buying the latest model of engines from our company have business talks in friendly atmosphere. As it`s not polite to go straight to business the manager starts with some remarks about the weather and asks his partner about his trip, the hotel he stays in, the impressions our city makes on the foreigner. The manager may also ask him about his family or his health and after that they get down to business. The negotiating parties discuss prices and terms of payment and delivery, packing and guarantee period. When they reached the agreement on the business matter, they discussed the date of signing the contract. We are punctual in business and never break the appointment. When the contract is signed we do our best not to make infringements in any of its clauses during the fulfillment of the contract. That`s why our company enjoys high reputation and we have no claims on the part of our customers. We are always heavy with orders as many firms want to place orders with our company.

1. What does a company produce?

2. Where does a company deliver its goods?

3. Why are the goods of this company in great demand?

4. What do businessmen usually discuss before signing a contract?

5. Why is this company always heavy with orders?

Text 8. Foreign trade of the USA

Besides agricultural products, the most part of the U. S. export occupies machinery, automotive products, aircraft and chemicals. The leading U. S. imports are petroleum products, food and beverages machinery, iron and steel products. The USA is the world's largest importer and exporter. Despite its huge domestic production, the economy of America depends heavily on foreign imports. Until recently the US exported more goods than it imported. However the present situation is the declining competitiveness of American goods in the world market first of all due to poor quality, which was indicated by the trade deficit, which is called in economic theory a negative balance of foreign trade. Foreign manufacturers are now selling about 50% inside the country more than Americans are exporting abroad.

It should be specially emphasized that the condition of the U. S. economy depends to a vast extent on the worldwide oil prices. If they are at a low-rate American economy prospers, otherwise it is in a decline. This phenomenon can seem the reason for the economic crisis of the USA nowadays. That is why America has an urge to control the oil field in Iraq which will give it an opportunity to control also over the world one. In fact the predictable war in Iraq is only one aspect of its policy, aimed at retention its specific role in international economics. In this case the economic interests of the USA coincide with its political ones.

1. What are the leading USA imports?

2. What are the main export products of the USA?

3. What does the US economy depend on?