United States and the developing countries: cooperation or conflict in commodity policy
The fourfold increase in the price of petroleum, the supply shortages in many important resource markets, and the pervasive world-wide inflation coupled with the recession since the oil embargo of late 1973 have combined to threaten international economic stability. The developing countries have called for a New International Economic Order, which has resulted in a measure of antagonism with the industrialized nations. The US has laid the basis for some kind of accommodation without committing itself to any specific program. The European Community has put in place a limited policy with the recent Lome Convention and the resultant agreement on export earnings stabilization. Congressman Rees feels it is incumbent upon the US to help devise cooperative policies to unite, rather than divide, the industrialized nations and the Third World. After a discussion of the issues and options, two general points are cited. It must be understood by the developing countries, as they negotiate commodity policy with the West, that OPEC's oil-generated surplus wealth will diminish over time and will not be available to finance developing countries' commodity market intervention schemes and that OPEC is a unique phenomenon, not a model that can be copied by other resource cartels. The commodities problem encompasses many diverse, complicated, and often conflicting issues, inluding (1) access to sufficient resource supplies for the US; (2) access to finished product markets by the resource-exporting developing countries; (3) excessive and destabilizing price fluctuations; (4) uncertain climate for investment in new productive capacity; (5) appropriate character of resource investment in foreign countries; (6) maintenance of a free and open international trading system; and (7) the internal economic development of the resource-exporting countries. (MCW)
- Research Organization:
- House of Representatives, Washington, DC
- OSTI ID:
- 7283691
- Journal Information:
- J. Energy Dev.; (United States), Vol. 1:1
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
POLICY AND ECONOMY
02 PETROLEUM
DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
ENERGY POLICY
OPEC
ECONOMIC POLICY
USA
EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION
MARKET
MATERIALS
OECD
PETROLEUM
ENERGY SOURCES
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
GOVERNMENT POLICIES
INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
NORTH AMERICA
293000* - Energy Planning & Policy- Policy
Legislation
& Regulation
294002 - Energy Planning & Policy- Petroleum
021000 - Petroleum- Legislation & Regulations