Oil in the era of Trump… what could it mean?
Trump is back, and the threat of tariffs looms large over China’s economy.
Resource nationalism is one of the main causes of the current commodity prices instability and it is threatening global security, warns London-based Chatham House in its latest report.
The think-tank highlights the effects of a recent increase in expropriations and investment disputes over resource assets in emerging economies.
It also alerts that “escalating trade wars over resources could overwhelm the dispute settlement regime at the World Trade Organisation.”
As an example, the reports points that a handful of countries produce the bulk of global resources. The three largest producers for 19 commodities account for 56% of total production. And a few countries, such as Chile and Peru for copper; or China, Australia and Brazil for iron ore and bauxite, mostly dominate the production of metals.
Chatam House suggests new methods to decrease the impact of commodity price shocks. For instance, it proposes that grain and oilseed producers —such as the US— should buy options from their biofuel industries, letting them divert food back to human consumption when prices rise.
The full report can be downloaded here.
Learn more about the how resource insecurity has come back with a vengeance in this interactive web site, put together by Chatam House.
2 Comments
Samarendra dey
It is foresight which informs the thought process we call predictions the huff on trade wars occurs on the bridge of fear, it is not an anomaly or a phenominan all is the game tolive in a see saw world, he mentions the emerging markets of South America, geared for nationalizations to control Industrial mineral recollect the 70’s Mid-East Oil embargo,
This Extreme Developed and Emerging are the key words that marginalise Africa the future we have in the 50 & 60’s exploited Asia, 70’s Latin America 80’s East Europe now the fears of trade wars as such become the ransom money to any economy.
Time has come to understand the weakness of associated discrimination that tools any society the interdependence of Aid the majic word to receive if you follow, but what we forget is that the common suffrage is in all tables of society cast creed or religion it is the body of humanity that emboies all our infections for greed to spite poverty it is here we can stop the world thinking war but becomming human we are by laws of nature no mads it for this reason we have earth that belongs to the gods that live in our hearts and minds that save us from the evils of fear. We must learn to be humans and share the first human desire to be able to afford, and be free to walk the world.
aziago
Resource nationalism? What an “interesting” way to distort the question…
As if the resources of a country where not his own… The real fear is the fear that governments that defend their own people and are not subservient to imperialist interests will not permit cheap exploitation of their own resources…
That is the question – western capitalists will have to pay more for their gold, silver and other metals. It’s becoming dificult to go to third-world countries and rip them off of their resources. And as a consequence countries who have these resources can derive from it wealth and international power, if they defend their interests (that is if they are governed by patriots).