The Argentine Presidency reported that the agreement aims to ‘reduce tariff and non-tariff barriers, facilitate trade in goods and services, modernize customs procedures’
Argentina signed a reciprocal trade and investment agreement with the United States, the government of Javier Milei reported this Thursday (5), according to which the treaty will give Argentine meat “unprecedented” access to the American market. The countries had announced in November a framework agreement for Argentina to open its market to US products in exchange for a reduction in tariffs on some of its exports.
The Argentine Presidency reported that the agreement aims to “reduce tariff and non-tariff barriers, facilitate trade in goods and services, modernize customs procedures and promote investment in strategic sectors such as energy, critical minerals, infrastructure and technology”.
“The agreement between the United States and Argentina reduces long-standing trade barriers and provides significant market access for American exporters,” highlighted Jamieson Greer, US Trade Representative (USTR) and signatory of the document. According to him, the treaty will benefit the entry into Argentina “from motor vehicles to a wide range of agricultural products”.
The framework agreement announced in November also provided for preferential access to products from other sectors, such as medicines, chemicals, machinery, information technologies and medical devices. In turn, the United States proposed to eliminate reciprocal tariffs “on certain unavailable natural resources and unpatented products for pharmaceutical applications”, the American embassy in Argentina then reported.
The publication of the document signed this Thursday is awaited to know the details of the pact. The Argentine Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the United States “will eliminate reciprocal tariffs on 1,675 Argentine products.”
Furthermore, “they will grant an unprecedented increase to 100 thousand tons in the preferential access of beef to their market”, which “will allow an increase of around 800 million dollars [R$ 4,2 bilhões] Argentine exports of this product.” Washington also “ratified its commitment to timely review tariffs on steel and aluminum,” the statement continued.
The Argentine Presidency detailed that the agreement will be forwarded to Congress and that Milei “trusts that legislators understand the responsibility they face to live up to this unprecedented opportunity”.
The two countries yesterday signed a framework agreement for the supply of critical minerals. The agreement establishes that the two countries will promote “subsidies, guarantees, loans and capital investments to boost mining and processing projects” and that “measures will be implemented to speed up the processes of obtaining licenses”, the United States embassy in Argentina reported this Thursday.
The head of American diplomacy, Marco Rubio, had stated on Wednesday that Argentina has the necessary capabilities to become a producer of rare earths.
Minerals and rare earths have become a critical sector for manufacturing technology products, from phones to computers to satellites, and Donald Trump’s administration has made this search for resources one of its main foreign economic policy goals.
The balance of trade with the United States in 2025 was a surplus for Argentina (8.338 billion dollars in exports and 6.704 billion in imports). The South American country’s main sales were concentrated in the fuel and energy and industrial manufacturing sectors.
*With AFP
