Q.What do you mean by Balance of Trade ?

Balance of trade (BOT) is the difference between the money value of a country's visible (merchandise) exports and imports over a period; a surplus is favourable, a deficit is unfavourable.

In the Tamil Nadu HSC Commerce syllabus, the balance of trade deals only with visible items — the physical goods that are exported and imported. It does not include invisible items such as services, which are counted in the balance of payments.

• Meaning: BOT = value of goods exported − value of goods imported during a given year.
• Favourable (surplus) balance: when the value of exports is greater than the value of imports. …