US+Business+Interests?

If the French lost Vietnam, The US would’ve thought that the goods manufactured in Vietnam would become more expensive. The US thought that Vietnam, if lost, would convert to Communism. If they converted to communism, they believed that they would likely be allied to the Soviets, and if they were allied to the Soviets, the Vietnamese would sell those goods to their allies.

This was a threat to US business interests because if the Vietnamese sold to its Soviet allies, the US would not be the recipient of the raw goods that were produced in Vietnam. If they lost those raw goods, they would lose the ability to refine them and sell them at a higher price. This would mean that the US would have to pay more for those goods.

This may have caused the US to decide to step up the involvement in Vietnam, since a loss of raw goods could have damaging effects on the economy. Also, the Soviets would be getting raw goods at a lower price, which would mean that they could get things at lower prices. Rubber’s raw materials were grown in Vietnam, and were required for many things, such as vehicles. This could have a military impact, allowing the Soviets to expand their military faster. The US may have felt that in order to stop these events from happening, they would have to stop Vietnam from being lost


 * hilly's comment:** //thi//s //quite good re: raw material, rubber. Could be improved by using the term "commodity" in it. Also, could be improved by exploring the benefits to business that US manufacturers of war materiel during the French colonization of vietnam as well as the US heavy commitment of group troops and bombing missions there.//