Question

What did fruit merchants and the u.s. foreign-policy makers have in common?

Answer 1

Here several things that fruit merchants and the u.s. foreign-policy makers have in common:
They both participated in economic imperialism.
They both wanted to control the market they were in, to be the exclusive provider of product/policy.
They both used economic power to spread US influence abroad.

All of the thins above,were being done in order to obtain the maximum profit for themselves from all of their operations

Answer 2

Both used economic power to spread U.S. influence abroad. - Apex