Counselor Pablo Cerno Arrived yesterday Washington, USA, To move forward with negotiations on the trade agreement. He is accompanied by the Minister of Production, pablo lavin, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Trade, Carolina Cuenca.
The agenda was activated by holding a round table with representatives of the private sector at the Meridian International Center, an organization specializing in diplomacy and government relations, and today managed by Deborah Lear, an expert in emerging markets at the New York Stock Exchange and former Deputy Assistant US Trade Representative.
“It’s closed“, confirmed high-ranking sources consulted by “El Cronista”.
At 3:00 PM he met with the United States Trade Representative, Jamison Lee Greer. Greer’s office was responsible for preparing the document detailing the arguments that led to Argentina (among other countries) being included in the tariff increase.
In the afternoon, the officials had dinner at a restaurant Council of the AmericasIt is a space where President Javier Miley and Economy Minister Luis Caputo held meetings with investors last week.
On Thursday, they will have lunch at the US Chamber of Commerce, and in the afternoon they will meet with the Secretary of State. marco rubio, And then back to Argentina.
Agreement
Expectations for the agreement remain high, although it is useful to clarify that the news was expected in the week before the elections. It has since been closed and awaiting official announcement.
Kernow and Lavigne’s trip revived expectations that the agreement would finally become known and the business community would confirm that they would return “And the agreement is under his arm.” Argentine Ambassador to the United States, Alec OxenfordReinforce this thesis by ensuring that the agreement has practically been closed and all that remains is to put it into effect.
The proximity of the agreement also revived the rumor of another visit. Those close to Casa Rosada confirmed that the United States Treasury Secretary, Scott Besant, He will visit Argentina before the end of the year. Some have confirmed that this will happen after the change of Congress on December 10, but the private sector is preparing to receive it in the coming weeks.
From the trip that brought Miley together with Trump, it became clear that many products would be included in the list Steel and aluminumWhich was included in the bracket with the highest tariffs (50%) because it was within the list of products related to national security.
Companies are also awaiting patent news, with particular interest from laboratories and the agricultural sector. The expansion of Hilton’s quota that limits the amount of kilograms of meat that can be exported to the United States (which will be expanded to 80,000 tons) is another focal point. Although this expansion was already expected, doubts center around Argentina’s production capacity.
Another ambition focuses on some mechanisms that allow simplification Infrastructure investments By foreign companies, something that is about to happen in new tenders, especially in trains.
The report prepared by the Office of the Trade Representative highlighted the presence of tariffs by Argentina, criticizing the advance payment of VAT on imports and withholding, as well as the ban (already abolished) on used capital goods or remanufactured products (such as auto parts), difficulties in accessing the exchange market or the presence of the PAIS tax. Many of these obstacles have been removed.
The main point under negotiation is patents. Greer’s portfolio emphasized that innovators in the pharmaceutical and agricultural sectors have significant patent restrictions, significant delays in pharmaceutical and biosimilar approvals, and that regulations provide “inadequate protection against unfair commercial use and unauthorized disclosure of data,” weak protection for geographical indications, and the presence of counterfeit and pirated products, a framework in which they cited La Salada.
About The Author
