Trade, a function of society that is usually associated with the economy, actually has its roots deeply embedded in geology.  Trade, globally and in the United States specifically, is highly controlled by resources, resources that we get from planet Earth itself.  Resources that the United States cannot self-provide, using its territorial land, is looked for in other countries.  This contributes to the dependency the United States has on other countries, even those that President Trump may consider as “arch enemies”.  As Paul Mozur proposed in this article, President Trump cannot stop trade with North Korea because the United States and North Korea have a mutual dependency on one of their biggest trading partners: China.  China helps North Korea with its “fuel, food and machinery needs” and at the same time provides the United States with 650 billion dollars’ worth of goods and services.  The reason that this mutual trading partner between North Korea and the United States is such a problem for Trump is because cutting off trade with North Korea would also mean that the United States would have to cut trade with any country that has ties to North Korea, including China.  Unfortunately, cutting off trade or increasing sanctions on China to stop trade with North Korea is not an option for the United States because we are so dependent on China for the continuation of our market economy.  The main reason China resists most sanctions on stopping trade with North Korea is because China is dependent on the natural resources that North Korea provides them, which are minerals such as zinc, iron ore and coal.  In a report released by China’s General Administration of Customs, and as presented in the article “China Says Its Trade with North Korea Has Increased,” China’s trade with North Korea in the first quarter of 2017 compared to that of 2016 increased by 37.4 percent with an increase of imports by 18.4 percent.  This means that this year China is still relying on the natural resources that North Korea can provide (Perlez and Huang).  These natural resources that China acquires from North Korea is then used to make highly marketable goods for the United States, such as the iPhone which in turn keep the economy going.

This cycle of dependency, starting from the need for resources, can have a great effect on society.  China, by importing natural resources from North Korea, provides North Korea with money which is put to the development of nuclear weapons and testing of missiles.  However, based on the same report released by China’s General Administration of Customs, China had decreased the import of coal from North Korea by 51.6 percent, since the import of this resource was the greatest contributor to North Korea’s nuclear weapons program (Perlez and Huang).  Although this was a significant decrease, the import of coal from North Korea cannot stop in totality meaning that China is still contributing to the North’s nuclear weapons program, let alone the contributions from the other natural resources China imports from North Korea.  For the United States this has great implications as well.  If the United States were to stop all trade with North Korea, this would start animosity between China and the United States which plays into the favor of North Korea for potentially starting a “trade war” between the United States and China.   Most people see the economy and trade as separate from having to do with planet Earth, when it has everything to do with what Earth can provide and what areas have what others need or covet.

 

Works Cited:

Mozur, Paul. “Trump Can’t Stop Trade With North Korea. But He Does Have Options.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 4 Sept. 2017, www.nytimes.com/2017/09/04/business/trump-china-north-korea-trade.html.

Perlez, Jane, and Yufan Huang. “China Says Its Trade With North Korea Has Increased.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 13 Apr. 2017, www.nytimes.com/2017/04/13/world/asia/china-north-korea-trade-coal-nuclear.html.