Jeson Clarke

The History of Argentine Trade Policy

The Argentine economy almost made its way to prosperity at the start of the 20th century. Bad trade policies were the main reason why the country's economy didn't take off. These policies originated from distributional conflicts and changes in limitations. Here's a brief history of Argentina's trade policy.

Argentina's Anti-Export Bias

There are two main reasons for Argentina's anti-export bias. One is the agricultural export sector's burden caused by the country's economic policies. The other reason is the manufacturing sector benefits provided by the policies. The anti-export bias had a negative impact on Argentina's growth and economic performance.

Argentina's Trade Flows, Patterns and Policies

At first, the country had an open economy. Later, it closed itself to trade. More recently, Argentina opened its economy again. In the country's first globalization period, it presented high openness ratios that varied from 30% to 40%. Argentina experienced these ratios for about 30 years.

During the 1930s and the 1940s, the country's trade openness dropped significantly. It recovered a bit toward the end of the 1940s but fell again in the '50s and '60s. Argentina's trade openness experienced stability in the '70s, and this continued until the first few years of the 2000s.

Export Taxes in Argentina

According to Argentina export statistics, during the 1970s, the country's export taxes peaked at almost 15%. At this time, a number of Argentina's sectors operated tax free. However, other sectors experienced high taxes with rates that were more than 40%. Officials decreased taxes by the end of the '70s and into the early 1980s.

The introduction of democracy in 1983 came with an increase in export taxes. Like other countries, Argentina has modified its tax structure over the years. Today, the country continues to embrace export taxes.

Argentina export statistics determine that while the country was close to achieving economic success in the past, it hasn't yet reached this goal. The country favored the industry sector over its agricultural one, a mistake since the country has a bigger advantage in agriculture. If officials amend Argentina's trade policy, the country could experience improved economic growth.

Author Resource:-

Jeson Clarke writes about database technologies, import/export data and customs data tools. You can find his thoughts at global import export data blog.