Mercosur: the dilemma between the customs union and a free trade area. In 2001, the government of Argentina - facing a major economic crisis - took a rather controversial decision and reduced the tariff rates of all capital goods to zero. This became a main source of conflict with Brazil, the...

In the first half of 2001, the government of Argentina undertook some changes in the import tariffs of some products, eroding the Common External Tariff (CET) of Mercosur. In particular, the tariff rates of capital goods were reduced to zero, an action with potential negative implications for...

This paper discusses the prospects for the integration of South America, stressing that there are two competing projects. On the one hand, we have the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), as proposed by Washington, or bilateral free trade agreements with the United States in the FTAA format....