Trade and Competitiveness in Argentina, Brazil and Chile Not as Easy as A‐B‐C: International competitiveness of the A‐B‐C agro‐food sector

The agro‐food sector plays a key role in GDP, employment, and in particular, exports in Argentina, Brazil and Chile (A‐B‐C). The three countries still have a large potential to expand both volumes and the product range by increasing land and labour productivity, and by converting large amounts of permanent pasture into arable cropland (except Chile). Moreover, large unexploited opportunities (in particular in Argentina and Brazil) exist to shift to higher‐value products and differentiated primary products, but international (high tariff peaks and non‐tariff barriers of OECD countries) and domestic constraints need to be addressed. With regard to the latter, framework conditions could be improved, in part to attract more FDI. Private initiatives for the development of new products and markets could also be better ...