International trade and economic institutions
International trade is the buying and selling of goods and services between countries. Small Caribbean economies depend on it, and on the regional and world institutions that set its rules. Paper 1 asks about trade and these institutions in nearly every sitting.
By the end of this page you can
- Outline the reasons countries trade with each other
- Identify what CARICOM, the CSME, the CDB, the World Bank, the IMF and the WTO do
- Put the stages of Caribbean integration in order
- Define balance of trade, balance of payments, tariff and quota
- Explain how the CSME affects Caribbean businesses
Goals tick themselves off as you try the activities below.
Photo: A. J. West, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. Cropped (the printed caption cropped off), resized, JPEG q74.
Kingston Harbour on an old postcard: Caribbean ports have carried the region’s trade for centuries.
How often it shows up in past papers
All papers23 of 23 papers
Last 55 of 5 · 2023–2026
Paper 1 counts come from our past-paper bank of CSEC Principles of Business Paper 1s. The last-5 row shows how often it came up in the five most recent papers.
Inside this topic
- Why countries tradeLocked
- Six institutionsLocked
- Federation to CSMEgameLocked
- Key termsLocked
- Test yourselfmarkedLocked
- Practise for real · 55 past questionsLocked