What are the basic characteristics of traditional foreign trade?

This is based on the commodity trade activities of a country or region with other countries or regions. Therefore, when referring to foreign trade, we should point out specific countries. For example, the foreign trade of China; Some island countries, such as Britain and Japan, also call foreign trade overseas. International trade generally refers to the exchange of goods between countries (or regions) in the world with money as the medium. It includes not only the exchange of tangible goods (in kind), but also the exchange of intangible goods (logistics and technology), which can also be called world trade. Commodity exchange activities between a country or region and other countries or regions. Internationally, this kind of economic activity is international trade. Foreign trade is a historical category, and its nature and characteristics are restricted by the mode of social production. Historically, the basic condition for the emergence of foreign trade was the third great division of labor in society, that is, the formation of commerce as an independent department and country, so ancient foreign trade was the product of slave society. In the pre-capitalist period, the development of productive forces was slow, the natural economy was dominant, and commodity production was underdeveloped, which made the foreign trade at that time have the following basic characteristics: ① Because the international division of labor has not yet formed, a country's foreign commodity exchange is still based on the domestic social division of labor, and there is no essential difference between foreign trade and domestic commerce. ② The products invested in foreign trade only account for a small proportion of the total social products, and foreign trade activities have obvious geographical limitations. (3) The main position in the commodity structure is consumer goods and luxury goods exclusively enjoyed by the ruling class, and slaves themselves are also important commodities in foreign trade. (4) The ability to engage in foreign trade is mainly large commercial capital. They organized armed fleets and overland caravans not only for self-defense, but also for plunder, so ancient foreign trade management was often combined with violence. In the preparation period of capitalist mode of production, foreign trade promoted the primitive accumulation of western European countries, so foreign trade is one of the historical prerequisites of capitalist mode of production. During the capitalist period, the industrial revolution established a large machinery industry, which made the socialization of production transcend national boundaries and formed an international division of labor. At this time, foreign trade got rid of geographical restrictions, gained high development and began to become world trade. Capitalist countries get cheap raw materials and grain from overseas through foreign trade, which makes the elements of constant capital and variable capital cheap, and at the same time can expand the production scale because of foreign markets, which leads to the improvement of profit rate. The development of foreign trade is undoubtedly a basic condition for capitalism to strengthen exploitation, but the development of foreign trade promotes the accumulation of capital, improves the organic composition of capital, and as a result, the profit rate will decline. Foreign trade is an indispensable economic activity in capitalist countries. With the development of capitalism, foreign trade plays an increasingly important role in the national economy, because the progress of productive forces makes the internationalization of production constantly improve, and at the same time, the deepening of internal contradictions of capitalism makes capitalist countries need foreign markets more and rely more on foreign trade. Under the condition of imperialism, capital export is of great significance, but it does not mean that the status of foreign trade is reduced, but it promotes the growth of foreign trade. Monopoly organizations not only manipulated the foreign trade of suzerain countries, but also controlled the foreign trade of colonial dependent countries, which became an important means for them to exchange unequally and seize monopoly high profits. Socialist society still needs to vigorously develop commodity production, which is an objective condition for the continued existence of foreign trade. Through foreign trade, socialist countries can make use of international division of labor, save social labor, and realize the transformation of material form (use value) of products, which is conducive to the comprehensive balance of national economy and technological transformation and the coordination of social reproduction. Developing foreign trade conforms to the requirements of socialist mass production and the historical trend of internationalization of economic life. Mastering foreign trade autonomy is an important prerequisite for developing countries to strive for economic independence. Developing countries must combine the development of foreign trade with the struggle to break the old international economic order, so as to play an active role in national economic growth. Modern foreign trade activities mainly include negotiation of trade terms and conclusion and performance of contracts. Different modes of trade have different methods to negotiate or determine the terms of trade, but any mode of trade must conclude a sales contract. Once the contract is signed, it is legally binding on both parties. Therefore, the negotiation, conclusion and performance of transaction contracts are the main contents of modern foreign trade activities. Foreign trade policies are basically divided into two categories: free trade and protected trade, which reflect the interests of a country's ruling class. Policies belong to the superstructure and serve the economic foundation. Whether it is free trade or protected trade, as long as it is conducive to the formation and consolidation of progressive relations of production and the development of social productive forces, it is progressive. Therefore, it is necessary to analyze the class nature and function of foreign trade policies of different countries in different historical periods.