The diversity of Latin American trade agreements established since the mid-1980s reflects a broadening range of strategic perceptions and orientations. The argument of this volume is that this increasing divergence among the arrangements reflects fundamental and growing differences among their broader strategic perceptions and political and economic objectives. These, in turn, are grounded in each country’s economic profile, the institutional configuration of its trade policy process, and the constraints and opportunities policymakers perceive at the domestic and international levels.

The opening chapter in this volume provides a theoretical framework that highlights the political-economic tradeoffs entailed in different trade strategies. The remaining chapters in sections I and II focus on domestic and international constraints involved in the formulation, pursuit, and implementation of trade policies. The last half of the volume contains detailed, empirically grounded studies of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, and the dynamics of Mercosur.