According to Wilson et al. (2003, p. 369), trade openness or friendliness addresses
“the logistics of moving goods through ports or more efficiently moving customs
documentation associated with cross-border trade”. We will use the terms openness
and friendliness interchangeably given the current climate to move and measure
trade between nations in as liberal and as simplified as possible. In a broader sense,
trade friendliness includes the transparency and professionalism of the customs and
regulatory environments, as well as the harmonization of trade standards, and the
conformance to international or regional regulations. In other words, trade friendliness
is a measure of free trade between two or more nations. Trade friendliness
is inhibited when nations attempt to protect their markets by imposing quotas and
tariffs. Trade friendliness is also inhibited when nations implement policies that
discriminate between indigenous firms and foreign firms. Other factors that inhibit
trade friendliness include the higher transportation costs and increased administrative
costs associated with, for example, product and distribution approval in
offshore markets. However, a number of countries are realizing the inefficiencies
(particularly in terms of the cost and time incurred) that are brought about by the
lack of trade friendliness. Therefore, a number of countries have committed to multilateral
or bilateral trade agreements to remove the barriers to free trade. A case in
point is that of the European Union where the member nations have come together
to collectively develop a free trade zone. In short, trade friendliness is akin to the
commercial characteristic of being open and willing to be accommodating where
trade flows are concerned