#41 Latin American Industrial Exports and Trade Negotiations with the United States
By John S. Odell
This study is part of a continuing project. Support for this phase was provided by U.S. Department of State research contract to a group led by Professor Jorge Dominguez and by the Harvard Center for International Affairs.
Summary
The traditional structure of North-South economic relations, with the richer countries exporting manufactures and the poorer ones exporting primary products, has been changing. As comparative advantage shifts from North to South, as manufactured exports from the South and protectionism in the North expand, one political consequence has been bilateral trade conflicts between governments. In 25 such conflicts with Latin American states, the United States, despite its international power advantage, has not achieved its fullest objectives in every case. The pattern of outcomes corresponds most closely to the expectations of an "unorthodox dependency" perspective. The United States is successful more often than Latin American governments, but the latter improved their outcomes in some cases by pursuing one or more of three possible strategies: mobilizing allies within the United States, threatening retaliation, or technocratic argument. The notion of a technocratic strategy may have applications on other issues.
Related Program
Latin America Program
The Wilson Center’s prestigious Latin America Program provides non-partisan expertise to a broad community of decision makers in the United States and Latin America on critical policy issues facing the Hemisphere. The Program provides insightful and actionable research for policymakers, private sector leaders, journalists, and public intellectuals in the United States and Latin America. To bridge the gap between scholarship and policy action, it fosters new inquiry, sponsors high-level public and private meetings among multiple stakeholders, and explores policy options to improve outcomes for citizens throughout the Americas. Drawing on the Wilson Center’s strength as the nation’s key non-partisan policy forum, the Program serves as a trusted source of analysis and a vital point of contact between the worlds of scholarship and action. Read more
