Impact of non-automatic import licenses in Argentina in highly protected sectors during the “Cambiemos” administration (2016–2019)

Abstract

This paper aims to elucidate the actors that drove import growth during the trade opening of the Cambiemos Alliance (2015–2019) in nine sectors selected for their high coverage of non-automatic licenses and for recording above-average increases in 2017 and 2018 (compared to 2015). The results validate the hypothesis that, in most cases, trading companies were primarily responsible for the increase in imports, and in those sectors where manufacturing firms also gained relevance, this was due to a process of reconversion from producers to importers. This served as a survival strategy in the face of import opening, which generated a productive contraction reflected in the decline of registered employment.