A UK tea company buys tea from overseas growers. Some customers are concerned about the trading terms received by the growers. The company could use Fairtrade-certified tea, but this would increase its cost by 12p per packet.
Which assessment is most balanced?
Using Fairtrade tea may improve growers' trading terms, but customer concern makes the 12p cost unlikely to affect the firm's prices or profit
Using Fairtrade tea may raise the firm's costs, but certification is mainly a supply-chain audit checking factory safety and working hours
Using Fairtrade tea may improve growers' trading terms and protect the firm's reputation, but the 12p higher cost could reduce profit or raise prices
Using Fairtrade tea may protect the firm's reputation, but UK companies have little ethical responsibility for standards used by overseas suppliers
118 exam-style questions on AQA GCSE Economics 2.4 International trade and the global economy, covering 2.4.1a The importance of trade, 2.4.1b Advantages of trade and interdependence, 2.4.1c UK exports and imports, 2.4.2a How exchange rates are determined, 2.4.2b Effects of exchange rate changes, 2.4.3a Free-trade and its arguments, 2.4.3b Free-trade agreements such as the EU, 2.4.4a Features and growth of globalisation, 2.4.4b Benefits and drawbacks of globalisation, and 2.4.4c Moral, ethical and sustainability considerations. Each one has a worked solution and a mark scheme showing where the marks go.