Trade and Integration Monitor 2014: Facing Headwinds: Policies to Support a Trade Recovery in the Post-Crisis Era

Date issued
Oct 2014
This report provides a detailed analysis of the principal characteristics of LAC's exports during the post-crisis period. The weak performance of the export sector stems from a combination of multiple variables operating in the global economy and whose future remains uncertain. In any case, the trends identified in this analysis represent a warning for the region and emphasize the need to support the recovery of the export sector. This is particularly true in the area of trade policies, where measures to remedy the situation do not rise to the magnitude of the challenges.
The first section examines the principal characteristics of the slowdown in world and regional trade since the middle of 2011. The second section provides an overview of the region's trade performance between 2012 and 2013, as well as the trends in value and composition of the regional export basket in 2013, highlighting the key factors in each subregion and country. Additionally, it presents an analysis of the evolution of the terms of trade of the region, outlining the deterioration of the last two years, as well as the contributions of price and volume changes to the trajectory of foreign sales. The third section discusses recent developments in the trade policy sphere, with emphasis on the progress of multilateral and regional agreements on trade facilitation.