Marxist-Leninist Views on International Trade

absolute productivity is higher or lower than that of another country, but each country has a certain comparative advantage in other conditions of production.

In 1815, economist R. Forrens developed Adam Smith's theory of absolute advantage into the idea of "relative advantage" or "comparative advantage" . In 1817, David Ricardo developed the idea of "comparative advantage" into the theory of "comparative advantage", also known as the law of "relative advantage" . The basis of this theory is David Ricardo's thesis that the differences between countries are not only in natural conditions but also in general production conditions, but all benefit when specializing in the production of a certain product and participating in international trade.

According to the principle of comparative advantage, a country, like a person, gains from trade by exporting goods or services in which it has the greatest comparative advantage in producing and importing goods in which it has the smallest comparative advantage. This also means that any country benefits from participating in international trade regardless of whether or not it has more favorable natural conditions than other countries. According to Ricardo, a product is considered to have a relative advantage over another product when it has a lower opportunity cost than the other product. Thus, if we consider only the main products, the theory of comparative advantage is an important theoretical basis in considering and building the export strategy of Laos in general and each specific product in particular.

However, this theory also has certain limitations. For example, David Ricardo relied on a series of simplifying assumptions about the theory of labor value to prove this law. Meanwhile, in reality, labor is not uniform; different industries will have different labor structures, with different income levels. In addition, manufactured goods do not only have labor advantages, but also many other factors such as land, capital, science and technology... especially now, the labor advantage factor is gradually narrowing between countries, other factors

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As land, capital, science and technology play an increasingly important role.

The Ricardian model focuses on comparative advantage, a concept that is considered the most important in international trade theory. In the Ricardian model, countries specialize in the production of the good that they can produce most efficiently. Unlike other theories, the Ricardian model predicts that countries will specialize completely in one good rather than producing many different goods. In addition, the Ricardian model does not directly consider resources, such as the relative relationship between labor and capital within a country.

1.1.2.4. Hecksher-Ohlin model

To overcome the limitations of the Ricardian model, two Swedish economists, Heckscher-Ohlin, proposed a model that explains the origin of trade through differences in factor ratios. According to Heckscher and Ohlin, international trade is not only explained by differences in labor productivity but also by differences in resources between countries. They pointed out that Canada exports forest products to the United States not because its forest workers have higher relative labor productivity (compared to their American counterparts) than other Canadians, but because the sparsely populated country of Canada has more forest land per capita than the United States. A realistic view of international trade must take into account the importance not only of labor but also of other factors of production such as land, capital and mineral resources. The Heckscher-Ohlin model was built to replace the basic model of comparative advantage of Ricardo. Although it is more complex and capable of more accurate predictions, it still has the idealization of ignoring the labor theory of value and embedding the neoclassical price mechanism into international trade theory.

The Hechscher-Ohlin model argues that the structure of international trade is determined by differences in factor endowments. It predicts that a country will export those products that use more of its factor endowments than

that country has a comparative advantage, and imports products that use a lot of the resource factors that it lacks. However, many studies that have tried to test the Hechscher-Ohlin model have produced conflicting results, including the work of Wassili Leontief, also known as the “Leontief Paradox”. Using his IO (input-output) balance sheet model with data from the United States in 1947, Leontief discovered that although the United States was a country with a high capital/labor ratio, the capital/labor ratio of goods equivalent to US imports was higher than the capital/labor ratio of goods exported.

1.1.2.5. Marxist-Leninist views on international trade

According to the Marxist perspective, globalization and economic integration are inevitable historical trends, originating from the social nature of productive labor and the result of the development of the international division of labor and the internationalization of capitalist productive forces. The more developed a society is, the deeper and more sophisticated the division of social labor on both national and international scales becomes. The increasingly high level of internationalization of the productive labor process is synonymous with the increasing trend of globalization and international integration. Along with the development of productive forces and commodity exchange, the expansion of markets, international trade relations also begin to develop. This process is especially accelerated with the emergence and development of capitalism, along with the gradual elimination of the separatist, isolated, and closed nature within the national scope, expanding the operating space of capitalism on a regional and global scale. Commenting on this process, Marx and Engels wrote: "Large-scale industry has created a world market, replacing the previous isolated state of localities and nations that were still self-sufficient"[19; p.598]

The above analysis of Marx and Engels shows that the development of social division of labor and internationalization of production under capitalism has brought countries together, creating a trend of regional and world economic integration. According to Marxist economics, the division of labor and the market are inseparable.

The market has a reciprocal relationship and mutual influence. The development of the social division of labor determines the development of the market. Conversely, the development of the world market promotes the development of the international division of labor.

Continuing the research process of Marx and Engels on capitalism in the monopoly capitalism period, V. Lenin argued that from the end of the 19th century, capitalist countries began to fall into a state of surplus production of goods for the domestic market with limited demand due to low income of workers, so they had to find markets outside the European region. Moreover, European capitalists, after a long period of development, had accumulated a lot of capital and monopolies in many areas of the domestic market. Now, continuing to invest in expanding production there was less and less effective in the context of supply exceeding demand with the ability to pay, so they had to expand their monopoly power abroad through export, investing abroad to earn more profits. To gain foreign markets, European capitalist countries used all measures and tricks, both economic and non-economic, even using military tricks, causing wars to invade the world market.

1.1.2.6. Samuelson's Theory

Unlike the Ricardo model, Samuelson assumed that the economy does not have a single resource, but many resources. Some of these resources are used in only one industry (professional) and some are used in many industries (flexible). According to him, the demand for labor and the level of labor used to maximize profits depend on the relative prices of goods. Because of the difference in the relative prices of goods, it creates the incentive to move resources flexibly between industries and thus changes the economy's ability to supply products.

From that idea, Samuelson pointed out that the rate of use of specialized factors in industries of different countries has created the relative supply of

Each country will also be different. This creates a relative difference in prices and this is the benefit gained from international trade.

The Samuelson model has overcome some limitations of the Ricardo model. He pointed out that the basis of international trade originates from the difference in resources in economic development between countries. Due to the different natural conditions, minerals, and historical traditions in each country, people are able to produce specific products to sell on the international market and then use that money to buy specific things from other countries that they do not have the conditions to produce or if they produce, the cost will be higher. Through that behavior, each country will gain benefits. That is the benefit from international trade.

1.1.2.7. Mill's theory of advantage

Economist Mill sought to answer the question of how the benefits of international trade are divided, which has not been thoroughly addressed in classical theory. However, Mill's main contribution to economics is his completely new way of thinking. He was the first person to analyze the relationship between supply and demand in the market thoroughly and clearly in the form of tables and diagrams. According to him, the amount of change in supply and demand in the market depends on the change in price. In other words, the supply will change proportionally to the change in price, while the demand will change inversely to the change in price.

Mill was also the first to develop the concept of opportunity cost, according to which the opportunity cost of any economic activity includes financial costs and non-financial costs. With his new thinking, in his work On Liberty (1859), Mill put forward an argument that contradicted Smith. Smith praised the free market because it maximized material life. On the contrary, Mill thought that the free market was good because it allowed each individual to develop his or her abilities to the fullest and thereby contributed to the exploitation of potential as well as the most beneficial allocation of social resources.

1.1.3. The need to promote the export of goods in the process of international economic integration

1.1.3.1. Some general issues on exporting goods

* The nature of exporting goods

Export is the sale of goods or services to foreign countries on the basis of using currency as a means of payment. The basis of export activities is the purchase and sale, exchange of goods (including tangible and intangible goods) between countries. When production develops and the exchange of goods between countries has many benefits, this activity will expand beyond the borders of countries or domestic export processing zones.

Export is a basic activity of foreign trade, it has appeared for a long time and is increasingly developing strongly in both breadth and depth. Its original basic form is the exchange of goods between countries, up to now it has developed at an increasingly high level and is expressed through many forms of regional and international trade organizations. Export activities today take place globally, in all industries and sectors of the economy, not only tangible goods but also intangible goods with an increasingly large proportion.

* Characteristics of exporting goods in the context of integration

International economic integration is an inevitable trend of the world's economies in the current conditions, when the globalization, regionalization and internationalization processes are taking place very rapidly under the strong impact of the scientific and technological revolution. International economic integration will create many opportunities for businesses to expand their relationships, access advanced management methods, absorb new scientific and technological achievements of the world and participate in the increasingly fierce competition between countries in the world. The integration process will also create pressure forcing domestic businesses to innovate, eliminate the idea of relying on State protection, thereby improving production efficiency.

business, contributing to promoting the development of domestic production. Integration is an opportunity for businesses to participate in establishing international "rules of the game", creating a more solid position in economic and trade relations in the international market. In the current trend of international economic integration, the export of goods has the following characteristics:

Firstly, customers in export activities are foreigners. Therefore, when wanting to serve them, exporters cannot apply exactly the same measures as when conquering domestic customers. Because, between these two types of customers, there are many differences in language, lifestyle, living standards, customs and practices... This will lead to differences in needs and ways to satisfy those needs. Therefore, exporters need to conduct further research to understand the needs of foreign customers in order to offer suitable goods.

Second, the export market is often more complex and difficult to access than the domestic market. Because the export market goes beyond national borders, it is geographically farther away, more complex and has more constraints.

Third, the form of purchase and sale in export activities is often purchase and sale through export contracts with large purchase volumes to be effective.

Fourth, the operations related to export activities such as payment, transportation, contract signing... are all complicated and contain many risks.

* Forms of exporting goods

Exports are conducted in many forms, here are some common forms:

+ Direct export

Direct export is a form of export in which domestic enterprises directly export to foreign markets. Direct export requires a large enough capital source and a team of qualified and capable human resources to be able to directly conduct export business activities. Direct export has

Outstanding advantages such as: reducing intermediary costs, thereby increasing business profits and exporting units can communicate directly and regularly with customers and foreign markets, thereby immediately grasping the needs and situations of customers, so they can change products and necessary conditions.

Direct export is a form of exporting goods and services directly to foreign markets. Goods are sold directly to the final consumer without going through any intermediaries. One of the advantages of this method is that it helps the exporting country to have direct contact with the market, grasp the market's needs and tastes in terms of quantity, quality and price of goods. However, the cost of using this method is very high, so countries with strong capital and resource potential should use this method to bring high economic efficiency. In addition, when a country uses the direct export method, it will encounter many major obstacles from trade barriers such as import taxes, import and export quotas, licenses, etc. In addition, the world market is always fluctuating, so the risk is very high, and it is very difficult to control if the exporting country has weak economic potential, as well as the exporting enterprises of that country are still weak in terms of collisions in the international market.

Direct export activities to other countries can be done through the following ways:

First , the exporting enterprise establishes specialized departments or divisions to export goods to selected countries. This independent export department or division will carry out the export operations of the goods produced by the enterprise.

Second , with the support of the State and relevant departments related to foreign economic activities, creating conditions for export enterprises to open branches or subsidiaries to distribute products abroad. Thus, with a system of branches distributing products abroad, it will allow