Five questions to ask before your first cross-border deal

Most international deals do not fail on price. They fail on assumptions: about who the counterparty really is, who pays for what, and what happens when something slips. Before you sign anything, ask these five questions.

1. Who exactly am I dealing with?

Not the brand — the legal entity. Which company, registered where, represented by whom? On IGT every member is identified and verified before a contract is signed, but the habit matters everywhere: if you cannot name the entity, you cannot enforce the contract.

2. What does the contract actually say about delays?

Every deal has a happy path. Good contracts are written for the unhappy one: late shipment, failed inspection, partial payment. Numbered clauses with concrete remedies beat goodwill every time.

3. Who holds the money, and when does it move?

Payment terms are where trust gets real. Milestone payments, escrow, a paymaster — the mechanism matters less than everyone agreeing on it before the goods move. If the payment plan lives only in an email thread, it does not exist.

4. What does compliance look like on both sides?

Sanctions lists, export controls, KYC — boring until they stop a shipment at the border. Check what applies in both jurisdictions, and ask your counterparty to show you the same.

5. Who do I call when something goes wrong?

A deal without a named person on the other side — and a coordinator or intermediary who knows the file — is a deal where problems escalate by email into silence. Make sure the escalation path exists before you need it.

None of these questions is exotic. What they have in common is that they are cheap to ask before signature and expensive to ask after. Take the afternoon; it is the best-paid afternoon of the whole deal.