Argentine President Javier Milei said his government has already changed multiple country regulations to comply with the United States reciprocal tariff policy that went into effect on Wednesday. 

“Just like President Trump, we do politics with facts, not just words. This is a time of action,” he said, adding that his government is “committed to resolving the [trade] asymmetry with the United States in a short period.” He went on to say that he has instructed the Foreign Ministry and the Secretary of Commerce to change whatever other norms were necessary. 

Milei made the announcements in a speech he gave Thursday at the American Patriot Gala at Trump’s Mar-A-Lago retreat in Florida. During the ceremony he was awarded the Lion of Liberty Award for his “unwavering dedication to freedom, free market economy, and conservative values.”

The regulations Milei mentioned his government is working on are related to tariffs, taxes, licensing, import restrictions, access to the foreign exchange market for imports, customs barriers and commerce facilitation, consulate issues, intellectual property, and barriers for the entry of some products. 

According to journalist Liliana Franco from Herald sister publication Ámbito, however, the Argentine government is currently negotiating with the Trump administration the possibility of removing all tariffs for Argentine products.

On Thursday, Foreign Minister Gerardo Werthein met with U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer. Although the initial goal is to have 50 Argentine products free of any tariffs, government sources told Franco that negotiations are ongoing to have everything exempt from the new regulation. The difficulty is that some products are considered “sensitive,” such as citrus and biofuel. 

According to international trade expert Marcelo Elizondo, Argentine exports to the United States hover around US$6.5 billion annually. The main sector is fuel and mineral oils, which takes up 27.5% of the total on average according to the Analytica consulting firm. The next two are aluminum and its manufactured products, with 6.5%, and alcoholic beverages, with 5.3%.  

Milei has traveled to the U.S. together with Economy Minister Luis Caputo with the intention of meeting with President Trump in the midst of the Argentine government’s ongoing negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). At the time of writing, the meeting had not yet occurred.

With information from Ámbito