International trade played a pivotal role in the diffusion of economic progress throughout the world. For many countries in the periphery of the developed world, trade specialization has been determined by their natural resources. For many countries they were instrumental to achieve middle income status, but only a few have been able to advance beyond that. On the other hand, countries with few natural resources in Asia moved ahead exporting industrial goods based initially in cheap labor, and later by the buildup of considerable human and productive capital. The shift of industrial production from advanced countries to emerging ones, as well as the fast expansion of global consumption demanding raw materials and food translated into more environmental degradation in emerging countries, making this problem a truly global crisis. The final section addresses the issue of why we still need economic growth, despite its large impact on global and local sustainability. The answer is that without economic growth, a large fraction of humanity will remain living under unacceptable conditions, so the rest of the world will need to leave space for their progress.