Final answer:
Developing countries often face unfair trade terms when exporting primary commodities, leading to exploitation and economic losses. This is due to practices like protectionism and dumping by wealthy nations.
Step-by-step explanation:
Poorer developing countries which often produce and export primary commodities tend to face unfair trade terms in relationship to rich countries that produce manufactured (capital) goods. These unfair trade terms are a result of several factors, including unfair competition with developed countries, low cost production, and the exploitation of local economies by more wealthy nations.
In the 1950s through to the 1970s, developing countries feared economic losses and political instability as a result of being open to global flows of goods, services, and capital. They were concerned that foreign trade with high-income trading partners would lead to exploitation and loss of domestic control. The wealthy countries, practicing protectionism, often block agricultural exports from low-income countries, offer subsidies, and sometimes dump excess goods in these poorer nations, which can undercut local production and drive down prices, harming local farmers and businesses.