We can summarize raw materials position in the United States in four topics. 1. Increasing dependency on external sources of supply. Transition from self-sufficiency in industrial materials to greatest importing country in less than fifty years is a major event in economic history. 2. The American raw materials policies in peak times of emergency have been successful. 3. The distribution of political control over raw material supplies differs from the distribution of population. 4. The United States is endowed with natural resources, a diverse, rapidly growing population, a dynamic economy and a location with ports on the world’s two major oceans. Conclusion: the technology flourished in the United States as new and improved products were manufactured and made available to a growing population. The role of raw materials is absolutely definitive to accomplish this goal.
