"In 1852, an American entrepreneur named James Jewett, master of the merchantman Philomela, wrote a letter to Secretary of State Daniel Webster. In it, he asked if American citizens could legally harvest guano on the Lobos Islands, to be sold as fertilizer to the opening farmlands of the Midwest. Webster, ever the guardian of American commercial interests, wrote back, "It may be considered the duty of this Government to protect citizens of the United States who may visit the Lobos Islands for the purpose of obtaining guano." Jewett went on to ask the secretary of the navy to send a warship to Peru, just to make sure that no foreigners got in the way."
Edit: "Appalled, the Peruvians responded by declaring the islands off-limits to foreign guano miners. Meanwhile, British and American warships weighed anchor and sailed toward the equator." (Not as allies, by the way.)
Empires of Food: Feast, Famine, and the Rise and Fall of Civilizations
by Evan D.G. Fraser and Andrew Rimas (2010).
That's the most immediate example I have in front of me. The principle of the thing goes back to the beginning of recorded history, and no doubt beyond.