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Argentina — Import Measures: How a Porsche is Worth Peanuts

Conconi, Paola and Schepel, Harm (2016) Argentina — Import Measures: How a Porsche is Worth Peanuts. Project report. European University Institute – Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies Working Paper No. RSCAS 2016/67 10.1017/S1474745616000574. (doi:10.1017/S1474745616000574) (KAR id:59460)

Abstract

The dispute Argentina-Measures Affecting the Importation of Goods concerns a series of measures imposed by Argentine authorities on economic operators as a condition for obtaining import licenses. These measures were introduced with the goal of advancing the Argentine government’s stated policies of re-industrialization, import substitution, and elimination of trade balance deficits. From a legal point of view, the least interesting feature of the dispute was the substantive compatibility of these measures with Article XI:1 GATT as they clearly constituted import restrictions. Identifying and classifying the measures involved, however, proved more challenging: based on vague policy guidelines, devoid of any legal basis, and consisting largely of wholly discretionary ad hoc action by the authorities, clouded in confidential obscurity, the measures escaped familiar categories and distinctions of WTO law. From an economic perspective, although Argentina’s measures appear to have had no impact on its overall imports, they imposed large costs on foreign companies, as well as on Argentine importers and consumers. ISSN: 1028-3625

Item Type: Reports and Papers (Project report)
DOI/Identification number: 10.1017/S1474745616000574
Subjects: K Law
Divisions: Divisions > Division for the Study of Law, Society and Social Justice > Kent Law School
Depositing User: Sarah Slowe
Date Deposited: 06 Dec 2016 06:36 UTC
Last Modified: 08 Dec 2022 21:09 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/59460 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

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