BdiL Jul 19, 2021:

As a native Italian speaker if I were the receiving party in the transaction I would definitely ask my counterparty: "Che vuol dire t+3?". Unless we had previously understood what is meant by "t" and what the time unit is attached to "3". If "t" is a date, it could mean within 20 November (hyp) plus a) 3 hours (ridiculous), b) 3 days, c) 3 weeks / months / years. The logical interpretation is that 3 should point out a maximum delay (probably in days) to the set date. However, nothing is for sure and EleoE's hint that t+3 might indicate instalments makes perfect sense. What is certain is the fact that "tra" should not be used as the headline: misleading, though it could be part of the answer. The standard in Italian would be something like "a 60 gg." or "a tre mesi" or "a un anno"; but you know that! Which leads to "in / within". You should further inquire the whereabouts of t+3. Maurizio

EleoE Jul 17, 2021:

I agree with Alison.
Without context I can only speculate, but it could mean that the payment is split in 4 parts: one at "termine" and 3 later.
Anyway, nothing here shows that 3 means "three days", why not three weeks or three months?

philgoddard Jul 17, 2021:

't' is used in mathematics and elsewhere to denote time, as in 't minus ten seconds'. "t plus three days" means "three days later", which is effectively the same as "within three days". I'm sure no one will complain if they're made in two days.

Alison Kennedy Jul 17, 2021:

How about term ... I'm sorry but if it was within 3 days, the term would be expressed differently, like entro. In this case you have +3 which in my understanding of Italian means "a term" plus 3 days. Tell me I'm wrong .. so according to me, it stands for termine. Try looking up Incoterms "t+3".

philgoddard Jul 17, 2021:

Your question should read "t+3" , not "tra". You're correct in assuming that it means "within three days".