Complaints from US and Europe over Argentine Import Barriers

The United States and the European Union will mount a strong offensive against the Pink House today to call into question Argentina’s import-restricting policies carried out by its Domestic Trade secretary, Guillermo Moreno.

Washington and Europe have planned to file a formal complaint to the World Trade Organization (WTO), accusing Argentina of applying illegal and unfair goods trade practices.

Clarín confirmed that the severity of this action determined the decision on behalf of the Argentine government to send an urgent secret mission to Geneva in a bid to curb the complaint against the import policy in force in the country.

The decision to attack Argentina would have been solved if it were considered that the strategy to tackle the external crisis applied by the Pink House violates the international standards accepted by the G-20 and Cristina Kirchner herself.

The complaint to the WTO to assess the situation and apply sanctions reflects the fact that Washington and Europe consider Moreno’s tourniquet on imports unacceptable. The U.S. authorities and the European Union have decided to present the claim at the meeting scheduled for today by the WTO Council for Trade in Goods. The presentation, in case the government is not able to stop it, would have the accession of China and Mexico, countries that apparently would have already shown their intention to support the claim that will be presented formally by the industrialized nations in Geneva.

The news came as a surprise to the highest authorities. It was exposed again the incompetence and lack of professionalism shown by the teams of the Argentine State Department, the Department of Commerce and the Domestic Trade Secretariat itself.

The censors of the State Department failed. The government did not hear the news until Tuesday night.

A lack of foresight was also shown by the U.S. Ambassador Jorge Argüello, and the Argentine diplomat at the WTO, Alberto D’Alotto, Hector Timerman’s Vice-Secretary until December. But the “rudimentary” policy applied by the Domestic Trade Secretariat was put in evidence. Moreno was distracted in Angola, while international unrest was brewing in Europe and the U.S. This time, Moreno appeared to be devoid of all reflexes and chose to disappear from the government’s front pages.

On Tuesday, the Pink House was shocked and paralyzed by the news. A few hours later — when it came out of the stupor — it decided to send a mission to Geneva to try to neutralize the U.S. and EU’s offensive.

The brand new Secretary for International Trade Negotiations, Cecilia Naón, traveled to Europe on Wednesday. She was instructed to try to negotiate hard and block Barack Obama’s action.

The Argentine government fears the joint complaint of the U.S. and its partners will generate serious political and economic consequences. For the moment, it is seen as a hard public objection at the WTO to the main tool used by Pink House to deal with currency crises: the tourniquet on imports to cover a shortfall of $7 billion to finance the macroeconomic imbalances.

Naón is completely inexperienced with such negotiations. She began her work in Geneva yesterday, but no one in the Argentine State Department believes it would be possible to curb the U.S. and the European Economic Community’s (EEC) offensive trade. Before travelling, the official maintained at least 10 telephone conversations with Axel Kicillof, Vice-Minister of Economy, and had a meeting with Timerman.

Last weekend, Naón went through a bad experience in the United States. She traveled to Washington with Moreno’s right hand, Beatriz Paglieri, to participate in meetings to promote Argentine exports with Ambassador Arguello. They stayed for two days, Friday and Saturday. On Monday, the White House put the trio in a really uncomfortable position: Obama suspended trade benefits for Argentina under the Generalized System of Preferences.

The officials’ lack of professionalism is a constant headache for Kirchner’s administration. The last career diplomat in Washington, Ambassador Alfredo Chiaradía, left office due to the government’s untidiness. He left in November during the G-20 summit, just hours before Cristina Kirchner and Barack Obama held a private meeting. Cristina Kirchner’s private secretary approached Chiaradía and required him to hand over his maximum security credentials. A Pink House spokesman replaced him in the meeting. Chiaradía said that it was impossible and inadmissible. He took off and broke his diplomatic credentials. Then he added: “Tell the president that I return to Buenos Aires immediately.” That summit between Obama and Cristina Kirchner provoked a hardening on behalf of the United States toward the Argentine government.

In Cannes, the head of the White House made overtures to Argentina. But privately Cristina asked Argentina to comply with new financial obligations emerged from ICSID trials.

Cristina Kirchner promised before Obama to solve the conflict and to cancel payments for $300 million. But the limitations of dollars by the Central Bank of Argentina made it impossible: the commitment was not fulfilled and that generated a militant reaction from Washington.