Abstract
In this research, we propose that, apart from the diversification of economic relations, trade agreements that Argentina signed since the mid-nineteenth century sought to reaffirm its sovereignty and independence, establish clear rules about citizenship, territorial limits, and navigation, and support an international scheme that theoretically ensured peace through commerce. In this sense, we consider that, on the one hand, they were endorsed to consolidate not only the internal order but also a place in the international system. On the other hand, we argue that their implementation depended both on circumstances strictly linked to trade and on extra-economic issues related to the process of national state building. The main sources studied are the treaties, conventions and commercial protocols, as well as the Annual Reports issued by the Argentine Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Worship.
Keywords:
Argentina; trade agreements; national state; sovereignty; cases