Between Depression and Economic Nationalism: Japanese Trade with Argentina and Chile in the 1930s

This paper examines the trade patterns of Chile and Argentina (two Southern Cone countries) with Japan during the 1930s. We find a correlation between the Japanese quest for new markets and the surge in trade links between the three countries. This process resulted from a strategy to position these countries in the global economy amid the effects of the Great Depression. For Japanese textiles, Argentina and Chile were new but small markets. For Argentina and Chile, the Japanese market was an opportunity to sell their traditional products rather than a space for them to diversify their exports.