Argentinean Non-Tariff Barriers in MERCOSUR:

Regulations and Politics in Trade Conflicts

Abstract

This article deals with non-tariff barriers as a permanent problem in MERCOSUR. First, it analyses the international definition of “barriers”, which creates difficulties to identify them and generates discussions on their legitimacy. It shows that MERCOSUR regulations faced also both problems. Second, the article addresses the main conflicts emerged from non-tariff barriers imposed by Argentina against Brazilian imports. It demonstrates that MERCOSUR regulations early defined non-tariff barriers as illegitimate instruments in the integration process, but because of the lack of effective regional mechanisms to deal with them, they became ordinary. The dissatisfaction of different agents with the performance of the consultative mechanisms and the regional court had as a consequence a bilateral approach to trade conflicts, perpetuating the relation among weak regional regulations and preferences of national leaders for political negotiations as a vicious cycle.