When considering international expansions, it is also imperative to understand the economic and trade barriers. Elements such as tariffs, national regulations, exchange rate effects government imposed quotas as well as transportation and communications costs can play a highly crucial role in this regard. For most businesses, these factors make all the difference between a successful international expansion and a failed international expansion.

In order to counter these barriers, it is imperative that the expanding business gives relevance to the essential elements of global integration to which it is being exposed. It can take advantage of economies of scale, economies of location, economies of scope and other market opportunities in order to strengthen its position.

Similarly, it can also make use of a focus on the national issues of the target region in order to strengthen its footing in that region and to counter potential criticism pertaining to discrimination and governance issues. In the same regard, there may be state or federal laws requiring expanding business to fulfill preset requirements without which certain limitations will not be lifted. Aspects such as these have to be kept in careful consideration during the international expansion. Policies being adopted by the members of the value chain in the target region may vary sharply from those in the home region. This may leave the expanding business with no other option but to alter the manner in which it deals with its value chain members. Compliance with the policies practiced by elements in the target region is crucial in order to ensure that the expanding business does not fail as a result of incompatibility with otherwise lucrative members of the value chain.