when properly managed commercial activity enhances the standard of living of a nation s citizens and increases its standing in the world however when commerce is allowed to run unregulated large businesses can become too powerful and impose negative externalities on citizens for the benefit of the business owners 
most nations have established government agencies responsible for promoting and managing commerce such as the department of commerce in the united states large multinational organizations regulate commerce across borders for example the world trade organization wto and its predecessor the general agreement on tariffs and trade gatt established rules for tariffs relating to the import and export of goods between countries the rules are meant to facilitate commerce and establish a level playing field for member countries the rise of e commercethe idea of commerce has expanded to include electronic commerce in the 21st century electronic commerce or e commerce is defined as any business or commercial transaction that includes the transfer of financial information over the internet e commerce changed how commerce is conducted in the past imports and exports posed logistical hurdles for both the buyer and the seller only larger companies with scale in their favor could benefit from export customers with the rise of e commerce small business owners have a chance to market to international customers and fulfill their orders export management companies help domestic small businesses with the logistics of selling internationally export trading companies help small businesses by identifying international buyers and domestic sourcing companies that can fulfill the demand import export merchants purchase goods directly from a domestic or foreign manufacturer and then they package the goods and resell them on their own as an individual entity assuming the risk but taking higher profits 