I want to know the answer to the following question:
Why was denying supplies important to the western countries?
All the background I'm provided with is that "In an effort to discourage Japanese militarism, Western powers including Australia, the United States, Britain, and the Dutch government in exile, which controlled the petroleum-rich Dutch East Indies, stopped selling oil, iron ore, and steel to Japan, denying it the raw materials needed to continue its activities in China and French Indochina.". Is that enough to answer the question?
Answer: yes