ABSTRACT
Industrialized countries that depend heavily on imports of metals and metallic minerals have followed different strategies in pursuit of favorable terms and secure supplies. The Japanese, who bought the bulk of their mineral requirements on the open market after World War II, turned increasingly to long-term contracts in the late fifties. More recently, they have begun to invest directly in foreign mineral operations. In addition, throughout the postwar period, Japan has pioneered the development of larger ships and other advances in the transportation of bulk commodities to reduce the cost disadvantage it suffers from the lack of domestic resources and dependence on distant foreign sources. Historically, the United States has explored for, developed, owned, and operated foreign mineral deposits to help assure an adequate supply of low cost, raw material imports, though this approach is now faltering as hostility toward foreign ownership of mineral resources spreads around the world. Western Europe, while relying to some extent on long-term contracts and foreign ownership, has also sought preferential treatment through trading blocs, such as the British Commonwealth, the French Community, and more recently the European Economic Community.
