Washington, DC – On Friday, October 19 2018, officials from the United States and Argentina held the second meeting of the United States-Argentina Council on Trade and Investment under the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) signed in 2016. The meeting was chaired by Deputy U.S. Trade Representative C.J. Mahoney for the United States; and co-chaired for Argentina by the Secretary for International Economic Relations of the Argentine Foreign Ministry, Horacio Reyser, and the Undersecretary for International Trade of the Argentine Ministry of Production, Shunko Rojas. The Chief Agricultural Negotiator of the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), Ambassador Gregg Doud, and the Argentine Ambassador to the United States, Fernando Oris de Roa, also participated in the meeting.
Officials discussed a wide range of bilateral trade and investment issues, including their respective ongoing international trade negotiations and initiatives, bilateral agricultural market access issues, and ongoing work in the Global Forum on Steel Excess Capacity. The officials also discussed cooperation on bilateral and multilateral trade initiatives, such as subsidies to fisheries, industry and state-owned enterprises, and agricultural matters of mutual interest. Officials took stock of the discussions in the Forum on Innovation and Creativity for Economic Development, including fostering cooperation on innovation, patent backlog, enforcement actions against pirated and counterfeit goods, and pending legislation. Officials agreed to hold the next Forum meeting in early 2019.
The United States and Argentina look forward to continuing a constructive and open engagement under the TIFA with the goal of strengthening bilateral and economic ties to the benefit of both countries. The two countries also agreed to work together toward a commercially meaningful outcome in the ongoing World Trade Organization initiative on electronic commerce.
Bilateral trade in goods and services between the United States and Argentina amounted to USD 26.3 billion in 2017. Bilateral trade in goods totalled USD 14.3 billion and trade in services totalled an estimated USD 12 billion in 2017.
Press Release No. 424/18