Businessmen from the main productive sectors of the country that have commercial relations with Brazil and China assure that it is important for Argentina to maintain relations in terms of investment and foreign trade with these two countries, and warned about the dangers to come. local production because they no longer exist.
Brazil and China are the two main trading partners of Argentina, not only because of the demand for products but also because of their participation in investments in the local productive network.
The presidential candidate and current national deputy of La Libertad Avanza (LLA), Javier Milei, stated that if he is elected he will not “do business with any communist”, where he listed China, Russia and Brazil.
“Not only will I not do business with China, I will not do business with any communist. I am a defender of freedom, peace and democracy. The communists will not go there. The Chinese will not go there. Putin will not go there. Lula will not go there,” Milei said in an interview with American journalist Tucker Carlson.
Regarding this, the president of the Argentine Industrial Union (UIA) and the Coordinator of Food Products Industries (Copal), Daniel Funes de Rioja, told Télam that “Brazil and China are the two main trading partners of Argentina and are located as strategic”.
That’s why he stated that “in the current global context, it is important to strengthen trade relations and productive complements in these markets that allow the expansion of Argentina’s export offer.”
In that sense, he specified that “Brazil is the main trading partner of Argentina, it represents 17% of our country’s trade, absorbs about 15% of our exports and represents almost 20% of imports. ”
“Thanks to Mercosur we have integrated production chains such as automotive and auto parts; plastics, chemicals, pharmaceuticals and food among the most important branches. This allows greater productivity, expanding the market scale and the different products made in the region. “said Places called Funes de Rioja in the United States.
In his opinion, “in a world where production chains are fragmented and regionalism once again plays a role, our neighbor is an important player, who also has a role to invest.”
On the other hand, he emphasized that “China is the second trading partner of our country, it represents only 14% of the trade of our country, it is the second destination for our exports, with US $ 7.1 billion on average in recent years, and occupies the first position as the source of imports, which explains 21%.
He also indicated that the Asian giant “plays an important role in providing industrial inputs and a destination for agro-industrial exports, where our country has great potential to expand its external sales. “
In this regard, he considered that “we must continue to work to improve sanitary and phytosanitary agreements”, and emphasized that China “has also become the key to financing imports during 2023, within the framework of restrictions of supply due to the external conditions given to the industry.the effect of the Chinese swap in strengthening the monetary reserves of the Central Bank.
“However, in some branches, it is important to consider the conditions of competition that have arisen to avoid situations of dumping or unfair competition affecting the Argentine industry,” concluded the head of the UIA and Copal.
For his part, the vice president of the Institute for the Promotion of Beef (Ipcva) and president of the Consortium of Argentine Meat Exporters (ABC), Mario Ravettino, emphasized to this agency that “Argentina sends 75% of its meat exports to China.”, where he continued that “any measure that directly affects this equation will have irreversible consequences for the country’s livestock and meat chain.”
Meanwhile, the president of the Chamber of the Oil Industry (Ciara) and the Cereal Export Center (CEC), Gustavo Idígoras, emphasized that “from the agroindustry we see the need to have relations and trade agreements with all the countries that bought. “, and considered that “the instrument to do so is Mercosur because we need to increase geopolitical power and we cannot do it alone.”
“It is a world of conflict that only listens and opens when there is enough strength on our side, and that is Mercosur, but it must be strengthened,” Idígoras told Télam.
He emphasized that “Brazil is the big brother of the region, Argentina should be its strategic partner and go together to China, Southeast Asia and also to the United States to find markets,” because he showed that “they are all protectionist countries, which only want to buy raw materials, but need to sell processed products.
According to the latest report of the Argentine Commercial Exchange (ICA) carried out by the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses (Indec), between January and August Brazil is the leading destination for Argentine exports with US$ 7,742 million, followed by the United States with US$ 3,590 million; and China with 3,544 million.
In imports, in eight months Brazil also leads with US$ 12,646 million, and China is behind, with US$ 9,640 million.
