United States President Donald Trump confirmed Argentina will continue with a 10% tariff in a new executive order issued on Thursday. The decree, which imposed modifications in the reciprocal tariff policy for some countries, did not change the minimum rate Argentina was slapped with when the policy kicked off in April. 

The news came on the same day the International Monetary Fund (IMF) board approved the first review of the agreement it struck with Argentina in April, enabling a US$2 billion disbursement.

The Argentine government has been in talks with the United States since the tariff policy began to try and have the levies removed, one of the first countries to engage in negotiations with the Trump administration.

“We’re doing well,” a senior source involved in the negotiations told Herald sister publication Ámbito on Wednesday, ahead of the stated deadline for Trump’s new executive order. 

“Good news is coming,” Milei himself predicted last Saturday, in what many consider a sign that Argentina will eventually reach a successful conclusion in trade talks with the US, unlike what has happened with the other major economy in the region, Brazil, which on Wednesday suffered a 50% tariff on a long list of goods it exports.

Trump had threatened Brazil with the tariffs in a letter written in early July. In the missive, he said he was implementing the levies in part because of the Brazilian judiciary’s prosecution of former President Jair Bolsonaro and its legal action against social media platforms. 

While the U.S. leader has sent a plethora of letters to several countries threatening tariffs recently, he has not typically linked them with a nation’s judicial affairs.

The strong political bias in the measure Trump imposed on Brazilian imports is also seen as a potential path to pave the way for a tariff agreement with Argentina. The Republican leader’s relationship with President Lula da Silva is the polar opposite of his relationship with Milei.