Economic and Trade Challenges of Sustainable Development - Phillip Castillo

Today, while at the George Price Center, I listened to Phillip Castillo speak about the economic and trade challenges of Sustainable Development. Not only was Phillip extremely informative, he also offered useful information that is comparative to the challenges we face in the U.S. Another interesting fact Phillip brought to my attention was how much control the U.S. has on international trade.

            The main point of Phillip’s presentation was centered on a diagram that he called the Commodity Chain. The chain consists of 4 steps and they are as follows: 1) Source and Costs of Raw Materials, 2) Production and Processing, 3) Transportation of Final Products to the Market, and 4) Marketing and Final Sale. The main goal is to move to the fourth stage. Countries in the European Union and the United States have clearly achieved this and have, in turn, the most stable and successful economies. Countries such as Belize, on the other hand, export their valuable goods and are only on the second step. As assumed, countries such as Belize export these goods to places that are higher on the Commodity Chain, which is one major reason why stable countries such as the U.S. can stay on the fourth step.

            While there are a number of external factors that play a role in Belize facing greater economic difficulties, Phillip provided possible solutions that, with time and effort, could help move countries such as Belize up the chain. One necessary action, which can begin in the U.S., is adding more value to the exported products. Belize’s major exports include, but are not limited to, Sugar Cane, Citrus, and Coconuts. If the U.S. and Belize can come to terms on a higher value, there will be mire surplus that can be given back to Belize.

            The example Phillip used was Tropicana Juices. Many of the ingredients in Tropicana Orange Juice come from Belize. Phillip proposed the idea of focusing on markets that are conscious of the challenges these lower income countries face. This way, there would be logical reason to charge the