U.S.-Latin American Trade Flows: 1967~1985

U.S.-Latin American Trade Flows: 1967~1985

This paper studies U.S.-Latin American(L.A.) trade flow trends for the period 1967-1985. To analyze the trade trends, standard trend equations of the form LnX=α+bt, where X=value of exports, t=time, were used for the ten categories of the SITC one digit classification. Since the period covered by the data includes the 1980`s crisis, it was considered appropriate to estimate trends for the 1967-85 period as a whole and for the 1967-80 subperiod. Another estimation for the whole period, including a dummy variable for the 1981-1985 years was also made. Since the trade flows between some individual countries and the U.S. are of particular importance, and since the policies and performance of these countries varied substantially, the same trend equations were estimated for the U.S., -Mexico, -Argentina, -Brazil, and, -Rest of Latin America(ROLA) trade flows