importation

/ˌɪmpɔrˈteɪʃən/

Other forms: importations

Importation is what happens when goods are purchased from a foreign country to be sold at home. The importation of cars into the U.S. is what makes it possible for you to buy a Honda or a BMW.

If two countries have a trade agreement, it means they've worked out a deal for importation and exportation. When lobster is shipped from Maine and sold in China, that's exportation, and when macarons are baked in Paris and sold in New York, that's U.S. importation. The noun importation comes from the verb import, which first meant "convey information" and then "bring in goods from abroad," from the Latin portare, "to carry."

Definitions of importation

1. noun

   the commercial activity of buying and bringing in goods from a foreign country
   synonyms: importing

   types:

   smuggling

   secretly importing prohibited goods or goods on which duty is due

   gunrunning

   the smuggling of guns and ammunition into a country secretly and illegally

   type of:

   commerce, commercialism, mercantilism

   transactions (sales and purchases) having the objective of supplying commodities (goods and services)
2. noun

   commodities (goods or services) bought from a foreign country
   synonyms: import

   type of:

   commodity, good, trade good

   articles of commerce