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Countertrade refers to a broad category of international trade transactions in which payments are made partially or wholly through exchanges of goods or services rather than solely through currency. This practice is often employed when traditional financial transactions are difficult due to currency convertibility issues, foreign exchange shortages, or political and economic instability in one of the trading partners' countries.

There are several common forms of countertrade. Barter is the most basic, involving a direct exchange of goods or services without any monetary intermediary. Counterpurchase involves two separate contracts: one for the sale of goods and another for the buyer's commitment to purchase goods of equivalent value from the seller's country within a specified period. Buyback, or compensation trade, occurs when a company exports capital goods and receives in return products manufactured by those goods. Switch trading involves a third party who buys the counterpurchase goods from the importer at a discount and resells them in another market. Offset agreements are often used in large government procurement contracts, requiring the seller to purchase a certain percentage of the value of the contract from the buyer's country.

Countertrade can offer benefits such as facilitating market entry, conserving foreign exchange, and developing new export markets for the seller. However, it can also be complex, time-consuming, and involve risks related to quality, pricing, and marketability of the goods received. It is generally considered less efficient than standard monetary transactions.