The article studies the impact of ‘tradition’ as a variable inside the analyses of foreign policy. For that end, it considers a particular case, the participation of Argentina in multilateral commercial negotiations. The central argument signals that, for Argentina, the negotiating tradition has had an important role as a guidance in foreign policy actions regarding multilateral commercial negotiations, especially in the moments of crisis. In addition, that, within this tradition, the main variable in the configuration of Argentinian options has been the development strategy.