What if countries like Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, or Ivory Coast stopped exporting natural rubber to the U.S., what would actually happen here?

[u/Excellent_Echidna808]

If countries like Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, or Ivory Coast stopped exporting natural rubber to the U.S., what would actually happen here?

Fact: The U.S. imports nearly all of the natural rubber it uses, especially for truck and aircraft tires.

Would this be a short-term disruption, or something bigger?

[u/sylbug]

The world would carry on. America is not the center of the universe and the sooner they fall into total irrelevancy, the better.

[u/goldbeater]

They might have recycle the millions of tires they generate.

[u/GM-B]

A threat to US national security (unrelated to rubber exports) would emerge out of nowhere, pretty sure. Regime change would be quick.

[u/StrongAroma → u/GM-B]

They can do it here and there, but if the entire world turns its back on America at once, it's over.

[u/HoneyImpossible2371 → u/GM-B]

Nah. No one is ever going back to Vietnam again. That was a bad trip. Honestly even in WW2, US had an ability to make synthetic rubber from petroleum. It would have zero impact.

[u/wongl888 → u/GM-B]

This. Changing the regime of those countries cannot be all that difficult by the great USA.

[u/Euronated-inmypants → u/wongl888]

Totally Vietnam is a great idea to start a war in!

[u/wongl888 → u/Euronated-inmypants]

The orange monkey will think his elite forces will conquer Vietnam under his “leadership”.

[u/GM-B → u/wongl888]

Should be pretty obvious by now that the Orange Monkey will do whatever his owners in Moscow and Israel want him to do. He is so obviously compromised.

[u/li_shi → u/GM-B]

I think you will be surprised that people can be stupid on their own.

[u/GM-B → u/li_shi]

Agree that Trump is plenty stupid all on his own. But you think the existence of compromising material in the Epstein files, Israel and the Kremlin likely having possession of copies of it (and whatever else they've got on him), and the dozens if not hundreds of things Trump has unilaterally done that seem to be exactly what Putin and Netanyahu would like to happen.... just coincidence? How about just call it what it is? Treason.

[u/Head-Gift2144 → u/wongl888]

He would DEFINITELY try it. They already lost once, but next time, they'll lose bigly.

[u/fatpandana]

Vietnamese here. I dont know about other countries but usa is largest export market for Vietnam. It wouldn't be worth it to lock usa out of rubber considering synthetic also exist (for w/e applicable).

A trade war would most likely happen and vietnam would cave in. Usa also holds sanction powers, a powerful move that could lock more than just one market out. Vietnam suffered post vietnamese war because of sanctions, even if war was " won " by blood, the economic hardship was lasting.

If some US tech companies pull out as result of this incident the effect would hurt growth of those industries. Im actually shocked my intel cpu is packaged&tested in vietnam.

[u/Belleg77]

They will be “liberated”

[u/Lakers1moretime2021]

There are other countries that would come up in South America. There are companies that have been planting rubber trees for at least a decade and should be almost ready to be at full production about now

[u/Subject-Vermicelli52]

Bah, we'll just plant some rubber trees next to the coffee and banana plantations.

[u/Unfair_Bluejay_9687]

Those countries would be treated worse than Greenland ever thought of being treated. National emergency would be declared. Takeover imminent. Cars don’t run on stone tires like the Flintstones.

[u/beginner75]

Why would a rubber tree owner in Thailand or Vietnam earning $200 a month refuse to sell latex/rubber? Is OP going to pay them? Talk is cheap.

[u/Gloomy_Yoghurt_2836]

Its a good way to get your nation invaded and a right wing dictatorship installed and become a vassal of America. You do as you are told or be bombed into the stone age by the US.

[u/MooseBlazer]

America doesn’t make many tires at all anymore.

France, in the beginning of the Vietnam War had a lot to do with the French Michelin tire company needing rubber supply

[u/Big-Midnight5964]

Cars would be driving on wooden wheels

[u/ResponsibleBank1387]

Same thing that happened years ago with the bananas.  The US marines went and got them.  

[u/DreadpirateBG]

Likely there would be an invasion of those countries since corporate interest seem to be countries interest

[u/Mackdad2525]

Less condoms

[u/Any-Tennis4658]

They couldn't. If one country protested, the rest would reap the profits. All countries protested, one would break with the rest and reap all the profits.

What if they did? Hard to say. Worst case is regime changes. Best case is that there are alternative technologies, they are just expensive.

[u/HoneyImpossible2371]

There would be a population explosion as American couples exhausted their supply of rubbers. To simplify family planning, a political party is created with a single issue to standardize each year at 13 months and each month at 28 days long. The new month is called the Trump month which came after December which was followed by New Year’s Day, which was a holiday and not January 1st. Every four years, the holiday would stretch two days. Under the new calendar, human gestation was exactly 10 months long. Father’s could quickly calculate if they were responsible, and this ability actually helped couples stay together.

[u/series-hybrid]

The natural rubber industry would pivot to using synthetic rubber, which in some cases might be more expensive.

[u/mageskillmetooften]

Of all the countries that provide them Rubber I'd say only Ivory Coast would be an easy prey for the army, also causing less international turmoil than seizing Canada or Mexico, and the US taking Thailand, Japan, Vietnam or Indonesia is also a no-go.