Developing countries believe they get a raw deal when it comes to international trade. These problems include
Relying on only one or two primary goods as their main exports
They cannot control the price they get for these goods
The price they pay for manufactured goods increases all the time
As the value of their exports changes so much long term planning is impossible
Increasing the amount of the primary good they produce would cause the world price to fall
The graph shows how much the price of tin has changed.
Developing countries that try to export manufactured goods find that trade barriers are put in their way. There are two types of trade barrier - quotas and tariffs.
A quota is a limit on the amount of goods a country can export to another country
A tariff is a tax on imports
Other problems that developing countries face are they are short of the money that is needed to set up new businesses and industries. Also, developing countries have fewer people who have the wealth to buy the goods made in local industries.