The impact on Latin American economies stemming from recent developments of the primary product markets is analyzed in this article. Brief comments are also offered on the political stands these countries have adopted or are considering adopting as a result of the ongoing dialogue taking place at both the academic and political levels on the new international economic order.

Rather than pursue the traditional route of first reviewing major problems that primary product trade has imposed on economic development efforts and then recounting alternative control schemes adopted in primary trade, this article focuses primarily on the degree to which Latin America is dependent on primary products as a source of foreign exchange earnings, and second on the influence, relative to other developing countries (LDCs), that primary products have had on foreign earnings, export instability, and terms of trade.