Explain the concept of countertrade, and discuss its importance.

Not all trade involves the exchange of money for products or services. In a world where 70 percent of all countries do not have convertible currencies or where government-owned enterprises lack sufficient cash or credit for imports, other means of payment are used. An estimated 10 to 15 percent of world trade involves countertrade, the practice of using barter rather than money for making global sales.Countertrade is popular with many Eastern European nations, Russia, and Asian countries. For example, Daimler AG agreed to sell 30 trucks to Romania in exchange for 150 Romanian-made jeeps. Daimler then sold the jeeps in Ecuador in exchange for bananas, which it brought back to Germany and sold to a German supermarket chain in exchange for cash. China's state-owned firms agreed to a $9 billion deal to build railways, hospitals, and health centers in the Democratic Republic of Congo in exchange for 10 million tons of copper and 400,000 tons of cobalt, a critical metal used in electric car batteries.