BILATERAL IMPORT PROMOTION AS A KEY TO INTEGRATION IN A HIERARCHICAL WORLD by Valentino Piana (2006) Contents 1. The advantages of bilateral import promotion 2. What's promotion of imports? 3. Why is it important to dance in two? 4. Bilateral import promotion as a micro - foundation of integration 5. The process of political policy launch: a scheme 6. The technical implementation of the policy 1. The advantages of bilateral import promotion Symmetric import promotion in two countries results in higher exports of both, in a more equilibrated and sustainable trade balance , in better industrial specialization and in the fulfilment of production gaps in differentiated product lines . It's easier to train importers than exporters, thus this trade policy would have faster and less uncertain outcomes than export promotion, which often rise also political conflics with foreign"invaded" countries. The present paper provides an overview of the goals, the tools, and the implementation process of a new trade policy whose main consequence is not only the increase in your country's trade but, even more importantly, the emergence of the integration pattern of international relationships out of the hierarchical world we have described in this paper . Being important to your main partners means be treated on an equal foot not only in economic forums but also in all political alliances and structures. To escape a relationship of dependence, as defined there, this WTO-compliant trade policy can help you identify a country with which to jointly launch a bilateral import promotion, either temporarìly or permanently. To avoid any misunderstanding, we do not take any position about tariffs, duties or trade barriers. In particular, we do not use the "bilateral" word in connection with "bilateralism", i.e. "Preferential Trade Agreements" between couples of countries. Instead, whichever the existing bodies of laws and regulations between two countries (to the extend that they do not simply forbid trade), we propose to consider "soft strategies" of trade facilitation and trade promotion symmetrically in both states at the same time. 2. What's promotion of imports? Imports are purchases from foreign sellers. Usually, the latter are eager to sell, so that it is very easy to buy, if you have the purchase power. Exporters can be met at their own premises, but it not unusual that they even come to your country to offer catalogs and collect orders. An importer that intends to re-sell foreign good in the domestic market need to be sure (or have a reasonable expectation / entrepreneurial judgment) that the good can be profitably spread through the distribution channels typical of his countries. This requires a fair understanding of the "rules of the game" as well as a positive judgement of the novelty and "success factors" of the imported good. However, once the good begins to sell well, further imports will be extremely easy. In short, public promotion of imports - whose specific instruments will be presented at the end of the paper - goes in the same direction as market forces, boosting an already fairly