Abstract

Taking into account the international context, the theoretical debate, and the
lessons that could be extracted from successful countries, the article examines the trade
policy basis that should be followed by Argentina to get a dynamic international insertion.
It is pointed out that trade policy could be used as an instrument of both, macroeconomic
and microeconomic gestion. Its employment as a suboptimal instrument could be justified
when the optimal ones are restricted (for example the case of the exchange rate policy in
Argentina). It is also emphasized that it is necessary to follow a close coordination between
trade and industrial and technological policies to get high levels of investment in the
tradable sectors, an increase in competitivity based in higher levels of productivity, and an improvement in the profile of specialization. Finally, it is pointed out the importance of
improving the autonomy and efficiency of the State to guarantee the effectiveness of the
public interventions.

JEL Classification: F13; O20.