The Argentine government argues for tariffs and jobs in the United States that prevent the export of biodiesel. It will be in the context of a seminar of the Argentine American Chamber of Commerce (Amcham according to its acronym in English) which started this Wednesday and will continue until this Thursday.

The “Argentina-United States Business Forum: rethinking value chains” Held at the San Martín Palace, it will be chaired by Foreign Minister Santiago Cafiero and the US Ambassador, Marc Stanley.

The Democratic administration’s assistant trade representative for the Western Hemisphere, Daniel Watson, has arrived in Buenos Aires from Washington. Also taking part is the Secretary for International Economic Relations of Argentina, Cecilia Todesca Bocco.

The requests and claims of both parties will be heard in the Forum. The United States is the third destination of Argentine exports.

The government wants to propose the search for a way to reverse the deficit in the bilateral trade balance -U$S 3,000 million-, at the same time that it wants to claim for the stop the entry of Argentine biodiesel into the American market.

In 2017, the U.S. Department of Commerce formally deemed imports of Argentine biodiesel subsidized and began imposing countervailing duties that reached over 72%.

Argentina’s biodiesel sector lost a $1.2 trillion market in a process that has since followed a channel of political and legal grievances. Both with no solution in sight because, among other things, there is a strong lobby against the Argentine appeal in the US.

“Today we kick off the first bilateral dialogue on the post-pandemic trade and investment agreement. The United States and Argentina continue to work together to promote inclusive economic growth in our countries through international trade and investment,” he said. stated Stanley.

For their part, US businessmen will ask what they are already doing: a “reasonable access to imports of inputs and capital goods”, a problem they consider “pressing”.

Furthermore, they declare that they cannot pay for the services due to the limitations of the Central Bank in relation to the fact that companies have trouble paying for the services they contract overseas because the BCRA doesn’t give them the dollars to pay. That is, they cannot pay services, debts or dividends.

The Forum has been divided into four subjects, with four panels.

One is “Energy security as Argentina’s industrialization mission”, where the situation and development of the Vaca Muerta field will be at the center of the debate. And they will have the presence of the directors of Exxon Mobil Argentina; Excelerate Energy: YPF and LCV Group.

The second panel is dedicated to “Electromobility: regional lithium-based supply chains” and will see the participation of representatives of Y-TEC Lithium; Inquinat SA and General Motors Argentina.

The third is “The Knowledge Economy as a Platform of Argentine Talent for Exporting Services” and will be attended by executives from Microsoft Argentina; GoogleArgentina; Globant and Baufest.

And the fourth panel is entitled “The new agribusiness: environmental challenges, quality food and technological opportunities” with the participation of executives from Corteva, Cargill; Adecoagro and Vetanco.