Morocco | Political Context
In relation to trade policy, Mulay Sulayman opposes the liberalism of his father Muhammad Ibn ‘Abd Allah by passing an edict in 1814 imposing a 50 per cent duty on imports, and takes restrictive measures by banning the export of most Moroccan commodities to Europe, including grain, oil, wool, animal hides and livestock. The years of drought and swarms of locusts that devastated all crops between 1810 and 1816 caused a shortage of basic commodities, price increases and famine, on top of the plague epidemics that swept the country. All of these factors necessarily weakened the country financially and demographically. This could help to explain the inward-looking policies adopted by the sovereign Mulay Sulayman, who—according to some historical sources—claimed that he did not need Europe and hoped that Europe did not need him. A desperate and exhausted Mulay Sulayman resigned and chose his nephew Mulay ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn Hisham as his successor.