Trade
The activity of selling goods or services to make a profit. Profits from trade are taxed under income tax or corporation tax on income rather than capital gains tax or corporation tax on capital gains. The concept of trade is difficult to define for taxation purposes [Law, p. 356]. The exchange of goods between two individuals or nations. Trade is the primary component of economic activity and is undertaken for mutual advantage. A type of skill, such as that of a carpenter or a plumber. A trade union was originally an association of workers with similar skills. The process of distribution, for example, the motor trade [Black, Hashimzade, Myles, p. 350]. Trade came from Germany and is related to tread. It originally meant a track or way’, and then a way of life, and a skilled handicraft’ — the ‘buying and selling’ sense dates from the mid-16th century. A trade wind has nothing to do with commerce. The term arose in the early 17th century from blow trade ‘to blow steadily in the same direction’ or along the same course or track [Cresswell, p. 330]. Trade can be envisaged as an indirect form of production. The commodities imported rather than produced at home will always require less productive inputs than those required under home production. Trade is thus a benefit to all parties, irrespective of whether the trade is fair or a country is competitive. But the fact that trade is universally advantageous does not mean that the benefits are equally distributed. Changes in the composition of output resulting from trade will produce both gains and losses [Crowsoft, Cannon, p. 320].
Crowsoft, R. (Ed.) & Cannon, J. (Ed.) (2015). The Oxford Companion to British History (2 ed.) Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Law, J. (2018). A Dictionary of Finance and Banking (6 ed.) Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Cresswell, J. (2021). Trade definition. Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Black, J., Hashimzade, N., Myles, G. (2017). A Dictionary of Economics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.