International Trade – Importance of Letter of Credit

The Letters of Credit give importers the mostthis sort of trading though. The issuing bank charges
extensively used and conventional international tradethe applicant costs for opening the letter of credit.
payment means and finance instrument. By makingThe fee charged depends on the credit of the
Letter of Credit terms to permit Deferred Paymentapplicant, and primarily consists of:
or Trade Acceptance, a Letter of Credit facilitatesA)    Opening Charges: This comprises of promise
financing to the importer. It promises payment,and procedure charges for the time of the letter of
provided the seller complies with the terms andcredit.
conditions inside the Letter of Credit. The IrrevocableB)     Retirement Charges: This is to be
letter of credit can’t be canceled or variedremunerated when the time of letter of credit ends.
without the approval of all parties.The bank offering the letter analyzes the bill
A bank issues an import letter of credit (L/c) on theaccording to UCPDC (Uniform Customs and Practice
behalf of buyer or importer under the followingfor Documentary Credits), and tax charges based on
conditions:a) When an importer is importing itemscost of items.
within its own nationb) Any act of merchandiseThere are few risks also that are connected while
where products from the nation is sold to anotheropening this sort of account.
commerciallyc)  When exporter from India who is- Basic risks consist of: Financial Standing of the
executing a contract outside his own nation needsImporter, the products involved ,the exporter, nation
importing items from a third nation to the nationrisk and foreign exchange threat.
where he is performing the deal.- Price risk is another vital factor related with all
The first out of these three is the most general basisforms of international trade. All banks evaluate their
to obtain a letter of credit in present day trading.risks on the above mentioned criteria before issuing
There are certain charges and payments related withthe letter of credit.