The government is seeking to close a trade deal with Trump this week, but there are still obstacles.

Foreign Minister Gerardo Werthein and Ambassador Luis María Kreckler are in the United States, where they are seeking the White House, or at least the State Department, to announce a new trade agreement with Argentina.
They hope it will happen this week, although the Casa Rosada remains extremely cautious due to the few but important differences that remain to be resolved.
The mere signing of the agreement and its announcement, as the United States did with the United Kingdom last month—the details of that agreement are still unknown —would be seen as a triumph for Javier Milei.
The reasoning is also guided by evidence: those who did not reach an agreement or sought to close an agreement with Donald Trump are receiving letters from the US government, or unprecedented announcements via posts on X by the president himself. These contain unilateral announcements of new tariff increases or changed trade conditions, which may or may not be negotiated with Trump, but which, in principle, are taken as harsh gestures by the Republican. Allies such as Japan, Canada, Mexico and the European Union saw this, as did Lula in Brazil, with demands that even include policies in favor of Jair Bolsonaro.
Milei wants to take advantage of her good rapport with Trump, with whom, in order to negotiate—and already knowing there would be neither an FTA with the United States nor an imminent Argentine withdrawal from Mercosur—she offered a reduction in national tariffs. Thus, the Argentine government asked Brazil and its Mercosur partners to allow a reduction within the bloc for some 50 customs codes on products that Argentina wants to offer to the United States.
The government is saying there would be zero tariffs on 80% of bilateral trade. The important thing is to see if negotiators manage to lower the 25% tariff on steel and aluminum that Trump raised, the 10% tariff on global trade that he imposed on Argentina in April, and to see if they can resume domestic biodiesel exports.
While negotiators in the United States signaled to the press that an agreement is imminent and will be finalized this week, the Casa Rosada and the other ministries involved remain cautious, acknowledging that "there are still obstacles."
These negotiations have taken place in several rounds, and the United States has consistently placed enormous demands on Argentina. These demands predate the existence of this government. All of this has been maintained under strict confidentiality rules between the parties during the negotiations.
When President Milei said there were ten points in a negotiation with Trump in which they agreed on nine aspects, the demands, especially regarding intellectual property law, were missing. Especially the changes Washington is demanding for Argentina to change its intellectual property regulations in the pharmaceutical sector.
And, above all, to repeal a tripartite resolution imposed by Cristina Kirchner's government in 2012, which tightened the requirements for patents issued by large national laboratories, which continue to have a significant impact and influenced Mile's 2023 election campaign.
Thus, sources in Washington observed two contrasting visions in Argentina today: that of the Minister of Deregulation, Federico Sturzenegger, who is seeking a change in regulations to adapt to international demands, as requested by international laboratories and smaller Argentine inventors - former Foreign Minister Diana Mondino and former Secretary of Economic Relations, Marcelo Cima, also informed President Milei of this at the time. And that of Health Minister Mario Lugones and Foreign Minister Gerardo Werthein, who are closer to national laboratories , including those of the Sigman and Sielecki families.
There were even moments of tension. Such as when Washington felt that, given the current situation, Argentina still wanted to "remove" Pfizer from Argentina, something Clarín could not confirm with any of the parties. The truth is that Minister Lugones heard all these suggestions from Donald Trump's Secretary of Health, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., when he visited Argentina in May.
Meanwhile, Werthein and Kreckler—who postponed his appointment as national coordinator until August since he is formally the consul in São Paulo—are leading international negotiations with Trump. They have held several rounds of negotiations with the heads of the Departments of State, Commerce, and the Trade Representative. And they are the ones who should get the announcement this week, as they seek, or within a few days. The Trump-Milei relationship is good.
But Milei's mandate to close a free trade agreement with Trump is so overwhelming that ministers Luis Caputo and Sturzenegger, the Secretary of Production Coordination, Pablo Lavigne, and the Undersecretary of Structural Reforms, Alejandro Cacace—both experts from the ministries—are committed to it. They also joined the new Secretary of Economic Relations at the Foreign Ministry, Fernando Brun, and part of the Chief of Staff, Guillermo Francos, and José Rolandi. Milei wants to close the deal with Trump no matter what and differentiate herself from the countries subject to Trump's public letters.
Clarin