First, the theme is different. The subject matter of general commodity trade is various concrete material products. The subject matter of technology trade is knowledge products, which are all kinds of scientific and technological achievements created by people in the process of scientific experiments and production.
Second, the form is different. General merchandise trade is tangible trade and tangible material products, while technology trade is intangible trade, which cannot be measured by weight and quality, nor by size. Because technological innovation and invention may be a mathematical formula, a principle or a design, which can be written on paper or recorded on tapes, but words and recordings are only the carriers of technology and can represent the content of technology, not the technology itself.
Third, ownership transfer is different. Commodity ownership refers to the right to possess, use and dispose of commodity income. The ownership of general commodities is transferred with the trade process, and the original owners can no longer use or sell them. However, in the process of technology trade, ownership is generally not transferred, only the right to use is transferred. In most cases, after technology transfer, the ownership of technology still belongs to the technology owner, so a technology can be transferred many times without reproduction. This is related to the characteristics of technical commodities, because the ownership and use right of technical commodities can be completely separated, and technology transfer is only the diffusion of technical knowledge, and the transfer is only the right to use, manufacture and sell, not the ownership.
Fourth, trade relations are different. General merchandise trade is just a simple buying and selling relationship. When the money and goods are cleared, the trade relationship will be over. Technology trade is a long-term cooperative relationship: when a technology is transferred from one party to another, it is often necessary to provide information, absorb technology, digest and put into production, and finally complete technology trade. So technology delivery is not the end of the relationship, but the beginning of the relationship. The two sides of technology trade are usually "peers" and can cooperate, but there will also be potential conflicts of interest and competition.
Fifth, the terms of trade are different. The terms of trade of general commodities are relatively simple. The conditions of technology trade are very complicated, including what technology to transfer, the scope of patent use, and what obligations and responsibilities to undertake. As the technology market is essentially a seller's market, generally speaking, technology importers are always in a passive position, especially today when all countries attach importance to the role of scientific and technological progress in economic development, the adoption of new technologies is fast and the demand is large, which makes the characteristics of the seller's market in world technology trade more obvious, and technology providers often have some restrictive clauses when using new technologies.
Sixth, pricing is different from price composition. The value of general material goods is determined by the socially necessary labor time for producing the goods, while the value of technical goods is directly composed of the personal labor time required for technological invention. Because the advanced nature and novelty of new technology are unique in society, it is impossible to form the average necessary labor time in society. At the same time, the new technology has the characteristics of monopoly and exclusiveness, which determines the particularity of the pricing principle of technical commodities, and the price composition of technical commodities is much more complicated.
In addition, international technology trade is advanced, monopolistic and protective.