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INSIDER

How small companies can navigate from the U.S. to foreign territories

A Guest Editorial by Bart Collins, CEO and Owner CITRA Inc.

Bart Collins, whose wide-ranging experience in travel retail includes a stint as president of Aer Rianta International Sardana JFK Inc.,
says that he is passionate about the universal struggles small companies face when they export from the U.S. to foreign territories. Since
starting his own small company in 2009, Collins knows first-hand the challenges that face small business owners, and how daunting it
can be to find and service customers. But the rewards can be substantial when approached correctly, he insists.
During a Virtual Think Global Conference held last year, Collins addressed the members of the International Trade Council on the topic
of how small and medium companies can overcome export obstacles. He now shares his thoughts with TMI.

CITRA Inc. represents U.S. markets and can guarantee on time delivery
manufactured and U.S. based consumer to our end users no matter from where
goods for global sales and distribution. we ship. This service works both ways,
We export these goods from the U.S. to because of our matrix we now also source
regions in EMEA, Latin America, Canada, appropriate EU based products for sales
and others, so export is an important issue and distribution intended for the U.S.
to us. As a small to medium sized trade At a meeting with the U.S. trade
company, we deal with import and export attaché in the U.S. Consulate in The Hague,
complexities all the time. Netherlands, a few years ago, I came to
Exports from the U.S. represented understand that large EU based firms
only 12% of total U.S. GDP in 2017. Small are apprehensive about doing business
to medium sized businesses – which make with small U.S.-based firms. Language
up 99% of the businesses in the U.S. – Bart Collins barriers, fear of lack of knowledge of
accounted for only 33% of these exports. local traditions, local ways to do business
Exports from the Eurozone, on the other How to overcome these barriers? etc. contribute to these fears. The reverse
hand, accounted for 46.2% of GDP—a CITRA faced the same issues. At occurs for EU firms wishing to export
huge 30% disparity with the United States. times we needed to sell our products three to the U.S. As a result, EU imports from
Globally, 95% of all firms are small to times. First to the potential client, then to the U.S. are mainly big pharma, defense
medium sized and contribute between 20% a projected importer and sometimes we products, machinery etc.
and 40% of total exports. The United States needed to find a separate distributor as well CITRA Inc. together with BLUE
lags well behind the rest of the world. when an importer could not or would not ApS can currently act as a conduit for
In most Western economies 90% of function as a distributor in certain regions. both sides of the equation and assist in
large industrial firms are involved in export To overcome these issues, we were forging relationships that can be extremely
as opposed to only 10%-25% of small and in a position to create our own import challenging at best. We are in essence a
medium sized firms. facility in the Netherlands, together with local U.S. based firm that can offer direct
What leads to these glaring contracting local distribution services. assistance. For the EU based entity ready to
anomalies? CITRA Import BV in the Netherlands import or export from or to the U.S. we are
Small companies face certain barriers now provides us with all import needs into the same local EU-based firm.
that prohibit full participation in the global the EU region. We have since expanded We have overcome many of the issues
trade and global economy. Among these those same functions into Denmark where and obstacles to exporting/importing that
are: 1. Logistical complexities and related CITRA Inc, is a founding partner and are typically associated with smaller to
costs. 2. Border and Customs related owner of BLUE ApS. Through BLUE, we medium sized companies and are open to
issues. 3. Local Legalities. 4. Currency and have augmented our team in Europe to do the same for your business. For more
exchange rate fluctuations. include local experts in Sweden, Denmark, information, contact bcollins@citra-inc.
These issues can generally be Switzerland, The Netherlands, Portugal, com
overcome by seeking and working with and Germany.
trusted partners in the export targeted areas. Through BLUE ApS we now also
But 63% of global small companies have access to our in-house e-commerce
in a survey conducted during a global platform, which is possible because of
trade conference in Mexico City a few seamless import and export capabilities.
years ago, listed finding the right business Countries like Germany, The Netherlands,
partners in the target area as their main The United Kingdom and France all have
challenge to being able to export, 41% their own local Amazon-like e-commerce
mentioned market access limitations, 38% sites. In 2020 European e-commerce sales
mentioned different regulations than what exceeded $394 billion and is expected to
was customary, 35% mentioned foreign grow to over $500 billion in 2024. Through
customs. our endeavors we can participate in these

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