On 16 May, in Washington, Foreign Minister Diana Mondino developed a work agenda with officials of the Government of the United States, members of Congress, representatives of the private sector and think tanks in a program that included activities at the Meridian International Center, the Cato Institute and the headquarters of Citi Bank Group. Mondino and the Chief of Staff of Ministers Nicolás Posse met with the US National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan, at the White House. Likewise, both officials, accompanied by the Argentine Ambassador to the United States, Gerardo Werthein, and the Secretary for International Economic Relations of the Foreign Ministry, Marcelo Cima, met with the Chairman of the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, Senator Ben Cardin, along with Senator Tim Kaine.
The Argentine Foreign Minister's political and economic agenda in Washington began at the Meridian International Center with a meeting with its Center for Corporate Diplomacy, an occasion in which Mondino held an exchange with more than 20 American companies from different sectors. The Foreign Minister explained the change adopted by Argentina towards an open market economy, with legal security to receive investments, the promotion of free competition and full insertion into the global economy, as evidenced by the process of Argentina's accession to the OECD and the negotiation of the Mercosur-EU Agreement.
In this regard, during the exchange with the companies’ representatives attending the event, Foreign Minister Mondino mentioned that the strength of the private sector is directly related to the economic prosperity and international positioning of States. She also assured that, faced with an international scenario imposing global challenges on us, the private sector’s capacity to respond is essential. Governments must therefore recognize this potential inherent to companies and see them as partners in strengthening international relations, and as collaborators in facing the complex public policy world challenges.
Likewise, Mondino highlighted the need to increase and diversify bilateral trade, the establishment of productive investments and the strengthening of supply chains between both countries and at the regional level.
After midday, Mondino, Posse, Werthein and Cima held a meeting with a high-level delegation on Capitol Hill that included the Chairman of the United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, Ben Cardin, and the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere, Tim Kaine. During the meeting, the highly wide-ranging support of the whole political spectrum of the United States for Argentina's reform agenda and its international reintegration was highlighted, in particular from a commercial point of view; the regional situation was also addressed. In this connection, opportunities were explored for the US Congress to continue strengthening its contribution to deepening the bilateral relationship.
Argentina’s top diplomat and the Chief of Staff of Ministers then went to the White House, where they were received by the National Security Advisor of the United States, Jake Sullivan, with whom they spoke about the development of the bilateral relationship since President Javier Milei had taken office.
During the afternoon, the Minister, together with Posse, Werthein and Cima, met with the authorities of the CATO Institute, a think tank that promotes public policies around the world based on the ideas of individual liberty, limited government and free markets. The vice president for International Studies and director of the Center for Global Liberty and Prosperity, Ian Vázquez, participated, as well as the distinguished academic Deirdre N. McCloskey, among others, who handed over a copy of the Human Freedom Index published by the institution.
Finally, the Argentine Foreign Minister and the Chief of Staff participated in a reception at the headquarters of the Citi Bank Group, an activity attended by representatives of think tanks and the corporate sector.
To open the reception, Mondino reaffirmed that, since the electoral campaign, the new government had announced that its program would be based on a pro-market agenda in order to stabilize the exchange market, lower inflation, guarantee investors’ legal security, generate a favorable climate for private initiative and promote transparent and predictable rules for companies that decide to invest in Argentina.
Argentina’s top diplomat highlighted the signing of the Decree of Necessity and Urgency 70/23 (December 2023) that includes historical demands from investors, such as the promotion of competition, the facilitation of trade and access to property or the simplification and deregulation of administrative processes.
The United States is the main source of foreign direct investments in Argentina - with a total stock of more than 26,000 million dollars - and the third trading partner, with more than 14,000 million dollars of bilateral trade.
Likewise, our country's exports to the United States were US$ 5,568.6 million in 2023. The main export products were Fuels (US$ 1,896.7 million), Precious Metals (US$ 733.3 million), Aluminum (US$ 507, 8 million), Fats and Oils (US$ 211.6 million), and Fishing products (US$ 186.6 million). Service exports, meanwhile, were US$ 4,587.5 million, of which Knowledge-Based Services represented 80.4%.
