According to Wallerstein, the semi-peripheries were exploited
by the core but, as in the case of the American empires of Spain
and Portugal, often were exploiters of peripheries themselves.
Spain, for example, imported silver and gold from its American
colonies, obtained largely through coercive labor practices, but
most of this specie went to paying for manufactured goods from
core countries such as England and France rather than encouraging
the formation of a domestic manufacturing sector.