Ask another corporation for a quote
Send a structured request for quote to a specific corporation and get an answer — a published deal, or a short private reason for declining. Requests expire on their own.
You can now ask a specific corporation for terms. Under Deals Market there is a Quote requests tab: pick a corporation, a resource and a quantity, and send. You can also start one from the menu beside any corporation's name anywhere in the game.
The other side sees it in their own Quote requests tab and can answer by publishing a deal, or decline. Declining is four buttons — too far, no capacity, price, not now — and that reason is shown only to the person who asked. It is not on anyone else's screen and not in any public record. There is no message box in either direction.
Requests expire, and the board shows the day. You can withdraw one while it is still open, and nothing has to happen for an old request to stop counting — it simply reads as expired once its day passes.
If you have blocked someone, or they have blocked you, no request can pass between you in either direction. Neither side is told which of you it was, and a blocked request looks exactly like a corporation that does not exist — so nobody can use a refusal to work out who blocked them.
Quote requests are opening city by city alongside boards rather than everywhere at once. Your Deals Market says whether yours is open.