International Business Transactions and the Law

International Business
Transactions and the
Law

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
Case study 1................................................................................................................................3
Case study 2................................................................................................................................5
CONCLUSION ...............................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
An international business transaction refers to a deal between two parties who are at least
from two different countries. These transactions can include subject matters like licence, lease,
sales and investment. The parties involved in international business transaction may include
large or small multinational corporations, individuals or even the countries. The import and
exports in Australia are governed by the free trade agreements between the multiple countries
which removes barriers like trade and investment (Sánchez-Lasaballett, 2017). In Australia, no
import licence is required to import any material thing. The following essay is regarding two
case studies to which first relates to the import of wooden statues where transaction took place
between two individuals from different countries. Second case study relates to the import of
bread fruit plant through a contract of sale.
MAIN BODY
Case study 1
Facts of the case- James owns and operate a business in Sydney of furniture where he
now decides to 'go upmarket' by introducing antiques and collectables for sale. He has recently
started import of statues from overseas. James and Owenton have been exchanging emails to
purchase elephant statues. Owenton offered James to sell 100 elephants statues of $1000 each,
Free on Board (FOB) where buyer is responsible. As per the advice taken by Susan, James
responded to mail by replying to sell the statues at $1000 at Delivered Duty Paid (DDP) terms
and not FOB. Further he also agreed to pay 40% of amount before the shipment and remaining
60% after receiving the consignment. Owenton didn't responded and after three weeks the
consignment was arrived at Sydney's Port Botany shipping terminal and James was called to
clear the import duty of $1500 and the statues will not be available for another week as they have
to be assessed for insect. The ACBPS officer also advised James that several statues are damaged
during the voyage.
Issues- The case study has following issues- first is whether the offer and acceptance is in
the nature of contract ? Second is whether the counter offer by James has relevance as to give
rise to a business transaction ? Third is whether silence of Owenton amounts to acceptance and
whether James will be liable to pay import duty ? Fourth is whether James is liable for the losses
occurred due to damage of statues during the voyage ?