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Always Protectionist? Latin American Tariffs from Independence to Great Depression

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 May 2004

JOHN H. COATSWORTH  and
JEFFREY G. WILLIAMSON
JOHN H. COATSWORTH
Affiliation:
Harvard University.
JEFFREY G. WILLIAMSON
Affiliation:
Harvard University.
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Abstract

This article reports a fact that has not been well appreciated: tariffs in Latin America were the world's highest long before the Great Depression. This is a surprising fact, given that Latin America is believed to have exploited globalisation forces better than most regions before the 1920s, and given that the 1930s have always been viewed as the critical decade when Latin American policy became so anti-global. The explanation does not lie with imagined output gains from protection in these young republics, but rather with state revenue needs, strategic responses to trading partner tariffs and a need to compensate globalisation's losers.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Latin American Studies , Volume 36 , Issue 2 , May 2004 , pp. 205 - 232
Copyright
2004 Cambridge University Press

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Footnotes

This article has benefited from useful input from Luis Bértola, Chris Blattman, Michael Clemens, Richard Cooper, Alan Dye, Toni Estevadeordal, Ronald Findlay, Jeffry Frieden, Steven Haber, Elhanan Helpman, Douglas Irwin, Graciela Márquez, José Antonio Ocampo, Leandro Prados, Dani Rodrik, Richard Salvucci, Kenneth Sokoloff, William Summerhill and Alan Taylor. Williamson acknowledges with pleasure financial support from the National Science Foundation SES-0001362.