Buenos Aires (Argentina) (AFP) - Argentina signed a reciprocal trade and investment agreement with the United States, Javier Milei's government reported on Thursday, specifying that the treaty will grant Argentine meat "unprecedented" access to the US market.

First modification: 02/07/2026 - 13:33

Both countries had announced in November a framework agreement for Argentina to open its market to US products in exchange for a cut in tariffs on some of its exports.

The Argentine presidency wrote on Thursday 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," Jamieson Greer, United States Trade Representative (USTR) and signatory of the agreement, also said in a statement this Thursday.

Greer highlighted that the agreement will benefit the entry into Argentina of products ranging "from motor vehicles to a wide range of agricultural products."

The framework agreement announced in November also contemplated preferential access to products in other areas, such as medicines, chemicals, machinery, information technologies and medical devices.

For its part, the United States proposed eliminating reciprocal tariffs "on certain unavailable natural resources and unpatented products for pharmaceutical applications," the US embassy in Argentina said at the time.

The publication of the signed document is expected this Thursday to know the fine print of the pact.

Steel and meat

The Argentine Foreign Ministry announced in a statement that the United States "will eliminate reciprocal tariffs for 1,675 Argentine products."

In addition, "it will grant an unprecedented expansion to 100,000 tons for preferential access of beef to its market," which "will allow Argentine exports of this product to increase by nearly 800 million dollars."

Washington also "ratified its commitment to promptly review the tariffs on steel and aluminum," he continued.

The Argentine Presidency detailed that the agreement will be sent to Congress and that Milei "trusts that legislators understand the responsibility that lies ahead of them to live up to this unprecedented opportunity."

"Argentina is a very closed economy," international analyst Marcelo Elizondo told AFP, explaining that after the signing between Mercosur and the European Union in January and this pact with the United States, the traditionally protectionist country "is achieving an international insertion that it did not have."

It is "a very significant fact," he added.

Alignment

Milei maintains a strong alignment with the United States of Donald Trump, and in October received a financial aid line for 20 billion dollars from Washington, strong support in the midst of a political and exchange crisis prior to the legislative elections, which his party won.

"Where there is geopolitics there is commerce and there is investment, and where there is not, business is reduced. And it seems to me that what this will also ultimately generate is investment from the United States in Argentina" in areas such as energy, minerals, rare earths and the knowledge economy, Elizondo said.

On Wednesday, both countries signed a framework agreement for the supply of critical minerals.

The agreement establishes that both countries will provide "subsidies, guarantees, loans and capital investments to promote mining and processing projects" and that "measures will be implemented to expedite permitting processes," the United States embassy in Argentina reported on Thursday.

The head of US diplomacy, Marco Rubio, had indicated 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 the manufacturing of technological products, from phones to computers and satellites, and Donald Trump's government has made this search for resources one of its key foreign economic policy objectives.

The balance of trade with the United States in 2025 was a surplus for Argentina (8,338 million dollars in exports and 6,704 million in imports). The main sales of the South American country were in the areas of fuel and energy and manufacturing of industrial origin.

© 2026 AFP

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