Argentina's Milei slashes duties on key agricultural exports

BUENOS AIRES

Argentine President Javier Milei has announced "permanent" reductions in duties on key agricultural exports.

The libertarian leader made the announcement in a speech to hundreds of farmers in Buenos Aires on July 26, after promising the cuts during his presidential campaign with the ultimate goal of scrapping them completely.

According to official figures, the agricultural sector represents around 10 percent of Argentina's GDP, with agricultural products representing 60 percent of the country's exports in 2024.

Export taxes on poultry and beef will be reduced from 6.75 percent to 5 percent, corn from 12 percent to 9.5 percent, and soybeans from 33 percent to 26 percent.

Milei also announced cuts on major exports like sorghum, sunflower seeds and byproducts, and soybean byproducts.

"These reductions are permanent, and there will be no going back as long as I am in power," Milei said at the "Expo Rural," a major agricultural fair held every year in Buenos Aires.

Argentina is one of the world's leading producers of soybeans and their derivatives, which accounted for nearly 25 percent of the country's total exports in 2024, according to the national statistics institute Indec.

In January, the Argentine government adopted temporary export tariff reductions which expired in June. Tariff cuts on wheat and barley were extended and will now be permanent.

The long-promised cuts come amid Argentina's easing inflation which had reached record levels in 2023.