"Trade in" vs "trade of"

Question

I know that Longman dictionary gives "in" as a correct preposition to use after "trade". But I am confused  by a number of examples from British corpus and Google Search where they say "trade of", such as "increasing number of local taxes on the trade of goods", and "these people enjoyed a peaceful existence, engaging in the trade of nuts, apples and rice with India".

Does it depend on the context?

The most important part of the question: I need to translate the qualifications that will be written on a diploma, bachelor of International grain trade. It seems to me that if I place "grain" after "trade" it sounds more profound. What preposition is better to use in this context? It is appropriate to say "international trade of grain"?

Kit Z. Fox · Answer

The difference is that in "The two countries trade in textiles", trade is used as a verb, which as Longman says, uses "in" as its preposition.

And in the example "These people enjoyed a peaceful existence, engaging in the trade of nuts, apples and rice with India", trade is a noun that is modified by the phrase "of nuts, apples, and rice".

Ray Butterworth · Answer

(Based on BoldBen's and my own comments.)

There is an obvious rule that seems to apply:

If "trade" is used as a noun, it should be "trade of".
If "trade" is used as a verb, it should be "trade in".

E.g.

I am involved with the trade of stocks.
I trade in stocks.

So "international trade of grain" would be equivalent to "international grain trade".

(It's not obvious that it is a better phrase to use though.)

"Trade in" vs "trade of"

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