The trade trap: poverty and the global commodity markets

Countries that depend on the export of primary commodities, like coffee, sugar, or cotton are caught in a trap: the more they produce, the lower the price falls on the international market. If they try to add value to their commodities by processing them, they run into tariff barriers imposed by the rich industrialised nations. Even when prices are high, producers receive only a fraction of the price paid for the end-product by the consumer. And all the time, they are competing with subsidised exports dumped on the world market by the 'developed' nations.How did this happen? And what can poor countries do about it? The Trade Trap explains the problems, and makes recommendations for action by governments of North and South and by ordinary citizens and consumers.'An excellent piece of work.' Professor Paul Rogers, University of Bradford'... succeeds excellently in compressing the information to the essentials without sacrificing the complexity, and in making the data live in terms of the lives and experience of particular people.' The Guardian7 doubt if the subject has been better presented.' David Vick, African Business'Here at last is an exception to the rule that books about business are for rookie billionaires.' New Internationalist'A tour de force! Everything you need to know about trade, with a wealth of case studies.' Michael Barratt Brown, Twin Trading