The recent announcement of new tariffs imposed by Washington on more than 60 countries does not alter the rate applied to Argentina, which will remain at 10%, as established under the original 2025 regulation. Although the rate itself remains unchanged, the measure could create problems for Argentine products that benefited from the trade agreement signed between the two countries in February of this year. According to Federico Vaccarezza, Secretary of the Europe Department at the Institute of International Relations at the National University of La Plata (UNLP), “the reduction to a 0% tariff on certain Argentine products [negotiated under the agreement] is now left in limbo.” He argued that the agreement “is only valid if the United States chooses to honor it.” This is because Argentina “has no mechanism to defend itself if the U.S.
fails to comply,” nor is there any dispute settlement mechanism between the two parties. “If they want to revoke it, they can revoke it,” he told the Herald. Vaccarezza added that the decision could also affect the U.S.
investments that Javier Milei’s government is seeking to attract through its Large Investment Incentive Regime (RIGI, according to its acronym in Spanish). company comes to Argentina under Milei and the government changes, Trump could say: ‘I’m going all in against Argentina now because I don’t like the new government.’ For a company, that creates an enormous amount of uncertainty,” he said. This is not merely a hypothetical scenario.
Last year, for example, Trump imposed 40% tariffs on Brazil under Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, citing what he described as a “witch hunt” against former President Jair Bolsonaro. Julieta Zelicovich, an international affairs analyst and professor at the National University of Rosario (UNR), told the Herald that the new tariffs “act as a pressure mechanism.” “It is a tool the U.S. government uses to keep bilateral relations under constant strain, keep diplomats on the defensive, and preserve its access to markets,” she said.
and China According to Vaccarezza, the main objective of the tariffs is to demonstrate “U.S. strength to the rest of the world through a single measure, and above all to punish China.” The policy seeks to prevent the transshipment of goods entering the United States from third countries but that are actually made with Chinese r…
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