p The analysis of tendencies in international trade presupposes not only a knowledge of the objects of exchange and the geographic distribution of commodity flows but also an identification of the subjects of trade transactions, their economic characteristics and relations among them. This general proposition which applies to any stage in the development of the world market is acquiring a new content at the present time, and a new significance in connection with the sharp intensification of the external economic activities of the largest industrial monopolies, and especially in connection with their changing role within the system of external economic relations.

p A group of United Nations experts have observed that "in the past quarter of a century the world has witnessed the dramatic development of a multinational corporation into a major phenomenon in international economic relations".  [85•1  It would be difficult to accuse them of overdramatizing this development. In the words of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Kurt Waldheim, these corporations "have become increasingly important in virtually every aspect of international life".  [85•2  Similarly the authors of a special study prepared by UNCTAD have concluded that "the multinational corporations . . . have clearly become a dominant factor in determining the pattern of world 86 exports,"  [86•1  since the influence of international monopolies on the external trade of capitalist countries is unquestionable.

p But it is not sufficient to merely state such a self-evident fact, because many activities ot international monopolies are closely guarded. Both from a theoretical point of view, and practically it is especially important to arrive at an understanding of the specific role played by international monopolies in international trade, and at a fundamental evaluation of their place in the international capitalist division of labour and in global economic relations.

p With regard to the analysis of world capitalist trade, the growing intensity of the international activities of industrial giants draws particular attention to the direct participation of multinational corporations in international trade. This raises a number of questions concerning the nature, forms and the scope of influence on international trade of intracorporate deliveries among subsidiaries of a particular monopoly, located in different countries.

p In particular it raises questions concerning the extent to which this specific type of exchange reflects certain new elements of modern capitalism’s economic structure.

There is no intention, of course, to present a comprehensive analysis of problems relating to multinational corporations. The problem is limited to a consideration of mutual interactions between international monopolistic production and international trade. At the same time it is not possible to clarify that problem without a fundamental evaluation of the new role played by international production activities of industrial monopolies and internal corporate transfers in the world capitalist economy and without identifying the economic dimensions of the resulting relationships. This makes it appropriate to consider not only a number of specific questions relating to international trade, but also several more general problems relating to the activities of multinational industrial monopolies—to the extent that this falls within the framework of the present study.