Global Trade h 243- Since World War II, African nations have had to rely on the sale of minerals and cash
crops to fi nance their fl edgling industries. Constant fl uctuation in the prices of these
goods hampered economic growth. - Nigeria was an oil-producing country and a member of OPEC.
- Africa exported native art.
Europe
- During World War I, European nations, and Great Britain in particular, failed to
recover their dominant export position, losing out to the United States and Japan. - In the fi rst half of the twentieth century, most Eastern European nations were primarily
agricultural, relying on sales of their products to Western Europe. - The European Economic Community (Common Market) was organized in 1958 by
West Germany, France, Italy, Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands. It reduced
tariffs among member nations and created a common tariff policy for other world
nations. - In 1992, Great Britain joined the European Economic Community, and was later joined
by Ireland, Denmark, Greece, Spain, and Portugal. - In the mid-1990s, Finland, Sweden, and Austria joined the economic community, now
called the European Union. - In 2002, a common currency, the euro, was accepted by most member nations of the
European Union, with Great Britain serving as a notable exception.
Latin America
- World War I and European trade brought prosperity to Latin America. Latin American
nations also had to produce for themselves the products they could no longer import
from Europe during the war, a concept known as import substitution industrialization. - The Great Depression caused a decline in the purchase of Latin American products.
- The United States was Cuba’s leading trade partner prior to 1959. Fluctuation in world
demands for sugar made Cuban prosperity uncertain. - After the Cuban Revolution, Cuba’s economy was tied into that of the Soviet Union.
Cuba’s economy deteriorated rapidly after the fall of the Soviet Union. - Colombia was a major participant in the international drug trade.
- Brazil exported exotic woods.
- Venezuela, an OPEC member, and Mexico were oil-producing countries.
- At the beginning of the twenty-fi rst century, Latin American nations were more heavily
industrialized than before.
North America
- During World War I, U.S. exports rose so rapidly that, for the fi rst time in its history,
the United States became a creditor nation. - After World War I, the United States exported motion picture fi lms. The United States
also distributed food such as wheat and corn to war-torn European nations after both
world wars. By the 1960s and 1970s, U.S. fast foods had reached locations around the
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