Answer:
What could be the modern-day equivalent of silk in terms of trading value is oil.
Although alternative energies are increasing their importance in times of climate change and global warming, oil is still the "black gold" of modern. The world still uses oil in different forms and means of transportation still depend on oil.
Oil has been the cause of many wars and confrontations, and of the United States intervention in the Middle East to maintain its political and economic interests. The oil industry produces trillions of dollars annually and the countries of the world who have more exportations of oil are the United Emirates and México.