BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — Argentina and the United States agreed Thursday to ease restrictions on each other’s goods in an expansive trade deal that advances President Javier Milei’s push to open Argentina’s protectionist economy and the Trump administration’s goal of lowering food prices for Americans.
The deal, which cuts hundreds of reciprocal tariffs, also reflects the importance of Milei’s ideological loyalty to U.S. President Donald Trump, even as Argentina — chronically distressed and long isolated from the global economy — offers little economic reward or geopolitical clout to Washington. Milei has reshaped Argentina’s foreign policy to align with the U.S., championed Trump’s interventions in the hemisphere, traveled to the U.S. repeatedly since taking office and plans to visit Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club next week.
Those ties yielded tangible support last year: as market turmoil threatened Milei’s reforms and Argentina’s foreign currency reserves ahead of a midterm election, Trump provided a $20 billion credit line. Milei avoided a currency devaluation and won a decisive election victory that rallied markets.
A trade deal between ideological allies
Argentine Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer signed the trade and investment agreement in Washington on Thursday. The move follows the Trump administration’s November announcement of framework deals with four Latin American countries, aimed at reducing tariffs on imports such as Argentine beef and Ecuadorian bananas to help U.S. firms sell abroad and relieve rising consumer prices. The announcement also came amid scrutiny of Trump’s steep tariffs by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Argentina is the first of the four countries to finalize its agreement. Quirno hailed the accord as a milestone for Argentina’s alliance with the U.S. and for Milei’s effort to rebuild the country’s reputation. “Today Argentina sent a clear signal to the world,” he wrote on social media. “We are a reliable partner, open to trade and committed to clear rules, predictability and strategic cooperation.”
Concessions could revive criticism
Argentina will remove trade barriers on more than 200 categories of U.S. goods, including chemicals, machinery and medical devices, the foreign ministry said. More politically sensitive imports — vehicles, live cattle and dairy — will enter tariff-free under government quotas. Those concessions worry Argentine industries long protected by steep tariffs, which have already seen sales fall as Milei opens the economy to cheaper imports, notably from China.
Washington agreed to eliminate reciprocal tariffs on 1,675 Argentine products, boosting Argentine government export revenue by more than $1 billion, the foreign ministry said. The White House said the list includes “unavailable natural resources” and pharmaceutical ingredients after Argentina committed to strengthen fragmented intellectual property protections. The U.S. also pledged to review its 50% taxes on Argentine steel and aluminum imports — a partial outcome that disappointed Argentine manufacturers who had hoped the tariffs would be removed entirely. The deal also increases U.S. imports of Argentine beef at a lower tariff to 100,000 tons per year.
An influx of Argentine beef
Greater Argentine beef imports could reignite criticism from U.S. cattle ranchers and Republican lawmakers who objected last October when Trump first proposed boosting Argentine beef imports to lower domestic prices. That proposal followed the administration’s $20 billion lifeline and direct purchases of Argentina’s dollar-denominated bonds amid market turmoil.
The backlash has been intense. Trump’s MAGA base questioned the need to assist a distant, nontraditional U.S. partner that competes with the U.S. in soy, corn, wheat, meat and oil. Democrats criticized the bailout as a political favor for an ally. The criticism continued Thursday, with Sen. Elizabeth Warren, the top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, urging Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to end the $20 billion support.
