Countries mainly import those goods that are not produced within the country and those goods which ar not produced in the country and act as a tool for producing another kind of commodity.When a country imports domestic producers are encouraged to raise their quality of production because they have to compete with the imported good so it results in an improvement in the efficiency of the domestic producers.Another reason for importing is the fact that not all countries are blessed with a lot of natural resources.Some goods which require certain kinds of natural resources to be produced can only be produced by a country or a few countries and all the other countries import those goods.Countries export their goods due to a number of reasons.By exporting goods produced by it a country earns it's income in foreign currency so exporting results in the inflow of foreign currency.Some goods have a great demand in foreign countries and so by exporting those goods a country earns a lot of money.