Mercosul e o grau de abertura econômica dos países membros, de 2001 a 2022

Abstract

Trade openness provides countries with trade gains thanks to the possibility of transacting goods and services. In the post-war period, trade agreements intensified, trade protectionism decreased, and countries began to join multilateral trade agreements and consolidate themselves into economic blocs. In South America, Mercosur emerged as a Customs Union (1995), with the proposal to economically integrate South American countries, by eliminating tariff barriers and adopting a Common External Tariff (TEC). The members of the bloc are Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay. This monograph aims to develop an analysis regarding the evolution of the degree of trade openness of Mercosur member countries, based on a time frame from 2001 to 2022 of the benefits of trade gains for the relevant countries. The proposed analysis will be carried out based on three indicators: Degree of Openness (GA), Export Effort (EE), and Import Dependence (DI). The results indicate that the structural and economic dimensions of the associated countries are significant. The configuration of the countries that make up the economic bloc emphasizes the complexity of Mercosur's regional economic integration, where countries with different population sizes and economic structures face different challenges in the search for economic convergence. It was found that Paraguay and Uruguay have a greater degree of openness in relation to larger economies and that Brazil predominates as the main economic partner in intra-bloc trade.