President Javier Milei’s government reduced export duties on soybeans, corn and wheat as he seeks to make good on a repeated promise to do away with the levies, which have held back Argentina’s farmers for years.
“Eliminating export tariffs has always been a priority,” Economy Minister Luis Caputo said Tuesday in a post on X. “And we’ll continue doing everything possible to achieve that goal as soon as possible.”
Caputo said that the lower tariffs are permanent, a sign that Milei is trying to boost the agriculture industry in the long run. Other reductions this year were for a limited period of a time only in an effort to accelerate trading and get dollars in the door quicker to help the government.
Farming is a pillar of Argentina’s economy, yet production has been hampered for two decades by government interventions and is falling further behind neighbouring Brazil. The two agricultural powerhouses are also navigating Donald Trump’s trade war, with China purchasing more South American crops amid US tariffs.
Argentine farmers are currently harvesting a huge wheat crop and planting soybeans. The new tariff levels will be: Soy meal and soy oil: 22.5 percent, down from 24.5 percent; Soybeans: 24 percent, down from 26 percent; Wheat: 7.5 percent, down from 9.5 percent; Corn: 8.5 percent, down from 9.5 percent.
by Jonathan Gilbert, Bloomberg
Comments