Meaning & use
exporter
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountable
A person, company, or country that sells and sends goods to other countries.
Grammar: Countable noun: an exporter, exporters. Often followed by 'of' to name the goods: an exporter of coffee.
Patterns
- exporter of something
- a major/large exporter
- exporter to a place
Brazil is a major exporter of coffee and soybeans.
The company became an exporter after it won its first overseas contract.
Local exporters are worried about the new trade rules.
Word forms
| plural | exporters |
|---|
Common combinations
- major exporter
- China is a major exporter of electronics.
- exporter of something
- The country is a leading exporter of natural gas.
- exporters and importers
- The meeting brought together exporters and importers from across Asia.
- become an exporter
- The firm became an exporter only five years ago.
- exporter to a market
- We are now a significant exporter to the European Union.
Synonyms and how they differ
- seller
- Seller is general and can be used for any sale, while exporter specifically means selling goods to another country.
- shipper
- Shipper focuses on the transport of goods, not on the selling; an exporter both sells and sends abroad.
- trader
- Trader can buy and sell in any market, at home or abroad, whereas an exporter always sells to foreign buyers.
Opposites
Word family
- export verb
- To sell and send goods to another country.
- export noun
- A product that is sold to another country, or the act of selling abroad.
- exportation noun
- The process of sending goods to another country, used mainly in formal or legal writing.
Commonly confused: exporter or importer? exporter or expat?
exporter vs importer
An importer buys goods from abroad and brings them in; an exporter sells goods and sends them out. They are opposite roles in the same trade.
exporter vs expat
An expat is a person living abroad, not a business or country that sells goods abroad. The two words sound slightly similar but mean different things.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'exporter' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'Exporter of' names the goods sold abroad, and 'to' names the destination, so 'an exporter of cars to many countries' is correct. 'Exporter from' would suggest Japan is the place goods come from, which reverses the meaning.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “exporter”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.