Import market potential, import market competitiveness and add/drop foreign market decisions of US exporters of sewing machines

Two hypotheses concerning two variables that potentially influence the “add/drop” foreign market decisions of U.S. exporters of sewing machines are developed and empirically tested. The variables are import market potential, and a surrogate measure of import market competitiveness. A third variable, concerning a developing country’s “trade regime” – Import Substituting, Export Promoting (Bhagwati, 1978) – is employed as a control variable in the tests. The two hypotheses are confirmed, and the results shed light on how U.S. exporters of sewing machines should analyze data on the three variables en route to adjusting their respective portfolios of export markets in a context of making add/drop foreign market decisions. The results of the research potentially contribute to three different literatures: the international marketing literature, the competitiveness literature and the “trade regime” literature in international economics.