Milei insists on a free trade agreement with the US with reciprocal tariffs

The president of Argentina, Javier Milei, has insisted on his desire to reach a free trade agreement with the United States and announced that his country will join the policy of reciprocal tariffs proposed by the Government of Donald Trump.

In a speech received by applause and cheers at the Conservative Polic Your country to achieve a commercial agreement with the US.

“If we were not restricted by Mercosur, Argentina would already be working on a NAFTA with the US that is mutually beneficial and not unfairly loaded on the backs of Argentine producers,” said the South American president.

Last January, the president indicated the Davos economic forum in Switzerland that he would be willing to leave the commercial block if it were the “only way” to achieve this treaty with Washington.

In his speech, where he praised the work of Magnate Elon Musk within the Republican government and congratulated the cuts to the US humanitarian aid through the USAID agency, Milei said that his country wants to be the “first” to join the “Reciprocity agreement that Trump asks for commercial matters.”

Trump announced last week the imposition of “reciprocal tariffs” to countries that tax US products, with the aim of equalizing the rates that these nations apply to US exports.

In turn, he signed 25% tariffs on all imports of aluminum and steel, which will enter into force on March 12 and will affect Argentina.

Mercosur, meanwhile, has been in conversations with the European Union to reach a commercial agreement that counteracted the tariffs imposed by Washington.

The two regions closed a pact last December, which must still pass a legal filter and needs to be ratified by the pertinent parliaments of the Member States. Effect

Beijing asks the US to stop restrictions

For its part, the Chinese government has urged the United States on Sunday to stop the restrictions proposed to the maritime, logistics and naval construction sectors of the Asian country, since it considers that they will end up damaging the US interests themselves.

Thus, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce has reacted to the last decision of the Office of the United States Commercial Representative (USTR), which last Friday announced that it will invite the public to comment on the proposed measures against China, including the imposition of port fees , within the framework of section 301 of the Commerce Law of the North American country.

In a statement, China’s portfolio has warned that proposed sanctions “would not revitalize” the United States naval industry.

In the opinion, “transport costs would increase on the US -related sea routes, increase internal inflationary pressure, reduce the global competitiveness of their products and harm the interests of their ports, port operators and workers.”

“In the US, there is also a strong opposition to these measures. In addition, several countries and organizations have expressed their discontent and opposition to US investigation,” according to the Chinese Ministry of Commerce.

During the investigation under section 301, which began in March 2024, China has provided position documents and urged to “return to a rational and objective approach” and to stop blaming Beijing “for its own problems of internal industrial development “, remembered in the note.

“It is unfortunate that the US continues to act stubbornly and continue advancing on the wrong way,” said the Ministry, which has urged the US to “respect the facts and multilateral norms” already “stop their wrong actions.”

After the investigation, the US commercial representative has concluded that Chinese practices in these sectors are “unreasonable” and harm or restrict US trade, being processable under sections 301 and 304 of the United States Commerce Law.

Economic disputes

Specifically, USTR considers that the Chinese strategy of exercising a dominant position “displaces foreign companies, deprives companies oriented to the market and their workers’ workers, and reduces competition and creates dependencies with respect to China.”

“The search for dominance by China hinders or restricts US trade by undermining commercial opportunities and investments in the maritime, logistics and naval construction sectors of the United States,” says the USTR.

The Chinese ministry asks the United States to stop “using economic and commercial disputes between the two powers, after the US president Donald Trump, signed an executive order to restrict access to US technology by Several countries, including China.

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Milei insists on a free trade agreement with the US with reciprocal tariffs