Buenos Aires Herald 
President Javier Mieli announced that export duties for agricultural products will rise once the temporary reduction announced in January ends in late June. Agro exporters questioned the decision and called for the reduction to “become permanent.”
“We temporarily lowered [export duties] for traditional agro exports, so they will be back in July,” Milei said Monday in an interview with El Observador radio station. “Tell producers that if they want to sell, they have to do it now, because export duties will be back.”
In January, Milei lowered export duty rates on soybeans from 33% to 26%, soybean derivatives from 31% to 24.5%, wheat from 12% to 9.5%, barley from 12% to 9.5%, sorghum from 12% to 9.5%, corn from 12% to 9.5%, and sunflower from 7% to 5.5%. Export duties for regional products were permanently eliminated.
“We are surprised, we were not expecting this measure on export duties at this time,” said Lucas Magnano, president of agricultural producers entity CONINAGRO in a statement. “We insist that producers need predictability and long-term policies.”
According to Herald sister publication Ámbito, agricultural exports did not increase after the duties were lowered, but rather stayed in line with what the sector had exported in previous years. Many producers, meanwhile, have been waiting to sell out of fear of a potential devaluation of the peso.
Andrea Sarnari, head of the Argentine Agricultural Federation (FAA, by its Spanish initials) argued that producers withholding sales was not “speculation” but rather a maneuver they needed to do in order to “subsist and pay for harvest costs.”
“We will keep insisting on the need to eliminate fiscal pressure that affects producers,” she said. “Regarding export duties, we will demand that the temporary reduction set until June 30 be made definitive.”
Pablo Ginestet, vice president of the Buenos Aires and La Pampa provinces rural entity CARBAP said he considered Milei’s comments to be “a threat” and demanded a “gradual and constant reduction of export duties.”
“The president’s economic policy will guarantee that there are less dollars for the agricultural sector in 2026 because production will clearly drop with these prices,” Ginestet said. “Argentine farmers are not competitive and need a tax reduction.”
On Tuesday, deputies Carlos Gutiérrez and Alejandra Torres filed a bill in Congress to ban the increase, restoration or creation of export duties during 2025 in order to “guarantee stability for the agricultural sector.” It adds that all fractional raises should be approved by Congress if the bill passes.