Posted on 04/26/2022 3:54:16 PM PDT by blam
The latest example of G-20 countries not bowing down to US pressure to halt trade relations with Russia comes from South America.
On Tuesday, in response to the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala’s request for Brazil to increase more food exports, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro asked the WTO not to sever trade flows with Russia. He said there are 27 Russian vessels hauling fertilizer to Brazil.
Now, why would Bolsonaro go against the wishes of the US and EU politicians to eliminate trade with Russia?
Well, the South American country imports more than 85% of its fertilizer demand. Russia is its top supplier, and Belarus provides 28% of the total.
Restraining fertilizer consumption would be absolutely disastrous, crush harvest yields, and threaten the world’s food security. The country is a top exporter of coffee, sugar, soybeans, manioc, rice, maize, cotton, edible beans, and wheat.
This is more evidence that G-20 countries, such as Brazil, India, and China, widely known as BRICs, disregard US pressure to halt trade with Russia. Many of these countries are dependent on Russia and Belarus for commodities. In one chart, here is Russia’s commodity reach:
Defiant G-20 countries imply the old economic order, in which the dollar’s centrality to global trade remains king, is fading. Numerous countries are already trading outside the dollar system (see & here) because Western sanctions isolated Russian banks from the SWIFT payment system. This has given rise to commodity-based currencies.
It remains to be seen if South American traders will use a Brazilian real-Russian ruble payment system for the fertilizer purchases.
Who died and put the WTO in charge?
Be a shame if they sunk to the bottom of the ocean.
Brazil, and other countries, need the fertilizer for their crops more than Russia needs the cash from the sales.
For those who forget the BRICS nations:
Brazil
Russia
India
China
South Africa
They are a trade bloc, and have stuck together thru this as per their agreements. (I know, following thru on agreements is not something we are accustomed to anymore…)
It actually would. Unless like Stalin, you are a fan of mass starvation to achieve a political goal.
I don’t agree with the whole trade sanctions on exports. I think it is excessively cruel and pernicious. The wealthy the world over will not be affected by it. They don’t care if milk and gas prices double. They don’t subsist off wages. It hurts only the poor and vulnerable. What do they call it now, vertical integration? It’s basically the breakdown of international trade.
People will starve. Nations will fail. War will be the order of the day as every nation seeks to expand its economy geographically rather than thru fiscal measures and trade.
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