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You can also contact the Office of Trade Agreements Negotiations and Compliance (TANC). TANCsystematically monitors, investigates, and evaluates foreign government compliance with ourinternational trade agreements to ensure that U.S. companies and workers receive the full benefitof these agreements. This free program is available to assist all U.S. exporters or investors facingtrade barriers, but it is particularly valuable to small and medium-sized companies, which oftenlack the resources or expertise to deal with these problems. It is the U.S. government’s one-stopshop for getting help reducing or eliminating those barriers.The TANC website includes a fully searchable database containing the texts of approximately 250international trade agreements. To assist, TANC provides examples of the most common foreigngovernment-imposed trade barriers at 1.usa.gov/1yRJbr5. This service enables U.S. exporters tofile complaints about foreign government-imposed trade barriers or unfair trade situations inforeign markets.Buyer preferences in a foreign market may also lead you to modify your product. Local customs,such as religious practices or the use of leisure time, often determine whether a product ismarketable. The sensory impression a product makes, such as taste, smell, or a visual effect,may also be a critical factor. For example, Japanese consumers tend to prefer certain kinds ofpackaging, leading many U.S. companies to redesign cartons and packages that are destined forthe Japanese market. Body size may also be an issue. If a product is made for U.S. body types, itmay not work for people of smaller statures.Market potential must be large enough to justify the direct and indirect costs involved in productadaptation. Your company should assess the costs to be incurred and, though it may be difficult,should determine the increased revenues expected from adaptation. The decision to adapt aproduct is based partly on the degree of commitment to the specific foreign market; a companywith short-term goals will probably have a different perspective than a company with longtermgoals.Engineering and RedesignIn addition to adaptations related to cultural and consumer preferences, your company should beaware that even fundamental aspects of products may require changing. For example, electricalstandards in many foreign countries differ from those in the United States. It’s not unusual to findphases, cycles, or voltages (for both residential and commercialuse) that would damage or impair the operating efficiency ofequipment designed for use in the United States. Electricalstandards sometimes vary even within the same country.Knowing the requirements, the manufacturer can determinewhether a special motor must be substituted or if a differentdrive ratio can be achieved to meet the desired operatingrevolutions per minute.Electrical standards can vary wildlybetween, and sometimes within,different international markets.Similarly, many kinds of equipment must be engineered in the metric system for integration withother pieces of equipment or for compliance with the standards of a given country. The UnitedStates is virtually alone in its adherence to a nonmetric system, and U.S. companies that competesuccessfully in the global market realize that conversion to metric measurement is an importantdetail in selling to overseas customers. Even instruction or maintenance manuals should provideChapter 8: Preparing Your Product for Export93