Posted in: 01/20/2020 – 12:48Last updated: 01/20/2020 – 12:48
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Argentina welcomed the US decision not to impose customs duties on steel and aluminum imported from the South American country that President Donald Trump had threatened in December 2019.
“We have been excluded, in a good way, from an internal memo of the (American) presidency regarding this issue,” Foreign Minister Felipe Sola said in an interview on Sunday 01/26 with Radio 10. “The list of targeted countries has been published, and Argentina is not among them,” he added.
Later, President Alberto Fernandez said in an interview with “C-5” that “TV” had carefully examined the decision. we are happy”.
On December 2, a week before Fernandez took office, Trump announced via a series of tweets that he would re-charge steel and aluminum imported from Brazil and Argentina, which he accused of manipulating their currencies and harming American farmers.
Trump said that “Brazil and Argentina are overseeing a significant reduction in their currencies”, which is detrimental to American farmers. “With immediate effect, I will return duties on all steel and aluminum shipped to the United States from these two countries,” he added.
In 2018 Trump announced a global tariff on 25 percent of steel and 10 percent of aluminum. But he later agreed to exceptions for some countries, including Argentina and Brazil, who agreed to set quotas.
And Friday, Trump signed an announcement to increase the fees on aluminum imports by an additional 10 percent, and on steel imports by an additional 25 percent, which will start to be implemented on February 8.
Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Mexico and South Korea were exempt from additional duties on steel-derived products, while Argentina, Australia, Canada and Mexico were also exempt from aluminum charges.
Sola said the reversal of the fees that were threatened with “excellent news for Argentina” while the taxation “would have meant a major job loss.”
The United States is the main destination for Argentine steel and aluminum exports, and represents a market of $ 700 million, according to official figures.
Argentina and Brazil benefited from the US trade dispute with China, replacing US exports of soybeans and other agricultural products to the Asian giant.
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