U. S. government officials worry that the explosive growth in countertrade will weaken the world trading system. By concealing the real prices and costs of transactions, says one U. S. trade representative, the various forms of barter may conceal and help perpetuate economic inefficiencies in the marketplace. Baiter can also be risky business. “Many companies,” says David Yoffie, suffer losses because they' re stuck with products of poor quality or with the wrong specifications. ” International trade by barter according to some experts, an inefficient and expensive means of doing business compared to trading with money. On the other hand, some other experts assert that the rise of countertrade provides practical solutions to the debt problems of the international monetary system.