Argentina, US amend trade deal in bid to secure ratification

Argentina and the United States agreed on amendments to a trade deal they signed in February, a bid to persuade the South American nation’s legislature to approve the pact.

Argentine Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer signed the protocol of amendments, both sides announced Wednesday. 

In a social media post, Quirno said the new version would help ensure “predictability for Argentine exports to the US market” and enable President Javier Milei’s government to submit the trade to deal to Congress for final approval.

Milei’s advisers had previously informed US President Donald Trump’s administration that they didn’t have the votes to ratify the agreement. The Argentine government also wanted to renegotiate terms because of the US Supreme Court decision that struck down Trump’s global tariffs not long after the nations reached the deal.

The US published contents of the updated agreement that removed specific references to the reciprocal tariffs that were subject to the Supreme Court ruling. 

“We look forward to continuing to work with Argentina on their ratification and implementation of this historic deal,” the USTR said on X.

Quirno said that as part of the new protocols, the US had reaffirmed most-favoured-nation tariff treatment for Argentine products under the agreed terms. 

He touted the deal as another step in a “new-generation trade, financing and investment agenda” between Trump and Milei, who’ve forged a close alliance as like-minded leaders over the last two years.