Quote:
Originally Posted by simonmark6
Very interesting thread.
SNIP
Getting to California from Australia would be an adventure in itself but then you have to ask yourself, for what? There isn't much the US has to trade that justifies a regular trade route and by the time there is, the US probably won't want to be importing bulk food goods.
There could be a sort of reverse slave trade tricangle at somepoint where the Africans ship bulk goods to Europe, pick up refugees to sell to work as indentured workers on the sugar platations in Cuba and then use teh profits to ship sugar and booze back to Africa. I like the irony of this even though it's unlikely.
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As for what the US may have to trade with, that's somewhat irrelevant if you take a long view: market research/intelligence gathering combined with relief supplies (medical, food, ammo, weapons, tools) distribution could help stabilize and set up a future market share, with a trading enclave as a semi-permanent fixture. Lots of good will and "hearts and minds" action going on there. Think French and English trading expeditions into North America in the 17th & 18th centuries.