THE INTERNATIONAL COMPETITIVENESS OF MERCOSUR

Over last 30 years, The Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR), as 4th largest trade block, undoubtedly exists and functions. In year 1991, Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay established MERCOSUR (Mercado Común del Sur). Venezuela joined in year 2006 but suspended since 2016. By signing a trade agreement, four member states of Latin America accepted unilateral trade liberalization programs, dismantled trade barriers, and enforced market expansion. This investigation is implemented through the commonly used international trade indicators and aims at unveiling status of international competitiveness and comparative advantages of MERCOSUR countries. The observed period is from 2014-2019. The main hypothesis assumes satisfactory state of the international competitiveness of MERCOSUR member states within observed period. The key results discuss the position of MERCOSUR member countries’ international competitiveness together with the collected results of MERCOSUR trading bloc indicators. The paper’s concluding remarks aim at identifying the trading situation of MERCOSUR member countries, along with the proposals intended for achieving the higher levels of their international competitiveness.