This study looks at the main obligations arising from the World Trade Organization (WTO); and their repercussions on the design of trade policy. First of all, the study analyses the content of the world trade system and the problems it raises, in order to highlight the fact that, as the number of questions considered expands and an ever-increasing number of policies are brought under international scrutiny, the delicate balance between trade policy and negotiations must be adjusted more and more exactly. It is suggested that the commitments entered into within the context of the WTO could indicate the direction although not the depth of trade reforms in Latin America. Closer analysis of the obligations arising from the WTO shows that they offer substantial leeway. The new international rules will have different effects in the long and short term with regard to the leeway available in the domestic market, compared with the external market, and in the region as a whole compared with each country taken separately.