[CTC] U.S. strikes deals with Argentina, Ecuador, Guatemala, El Salvador

[Arthur Stamoulis]

U.S. strikes deals with Argentina, Ecuador, Guatemala, El Salvador
Inside U.S. Trade
By  Dan Dupont <https://insidetrade.com/authors/Dan-Dupont>  / November 13,
2025 at 5:43 PM

The U.S. has struck trade deals with Argentina, Ecuador, El Salvador and
Guatemala, the White House announced on Thursday, pledging to remove
tariffs on some goods not “grown, mined, or naturally produced” in America
and in two cases suggesting relief from some sector-specific duties.

The administration released joint statements with each of the four, calling
them “reciprocal” frameworks obliging the Latin American countries to lower
trade barriers affecting U.S. exporters, among other provisions.

Under its deal, Argentina will “provide preferential market access for U.S.
goods exports, including certain medicines, chemicals, machinery,
information technologies products, medical devices, motor vehicles, and a
wide range of agricultural products,” the U.S.-Argentina statement
<https://insidetrade.com/sites/insidetrade.com/files/documents/2025/nov/wto2025_0948a.pdf>says.
“In recognition of Argentina’s ambitious reform agenda and its trade
commitments, and consistent with Argentina’s compliance with relevant
supply chain and economic security requirements, the United States will
remove the reciprocal tariffs on certain unavailable natural resources and
non-patented articles for use in pharmaceutical applications.”

Moreover, it says, the U.S. “may positively consider the effect that the
Agreement has on national security, including taking the Agreement into
consideration when taking trade action under Section 232 of the Trade
Expansion Act of 1962, as amended (19 U.S.C. 1862).” The joint statement
with El Salvador
<https://insidetrade.com/sites/insidetrade.com/files/documents/2025/nov/wto2025_0947a.pdf>
contains
similar language; the other two do not.

*The U.S. and Argentina also committed to “improved, reciprocal, bilateral
market access conditions for trade in beef,” the joint statement adds,
without elaborating.*

A separate section on agricultural provisions says Argentina has “opened
its market to U.S. live cattle, committed to allow market access for U.S.
poultry within one year, and agreed not to restrict market access for
products that use certain cheese and meat terms.  Argentina will simplify
product registration processes for U.S. beef, beef products, beef offal,
and pork products, and will not apply facility registration for imports of
U.S. dairy products.”

President Trump angered members of Congress from both parties, as well as
U.S. producers, when he suggested last month that a coming trade deal with
Buenos Aires might include a U.S. commitment to import more beef.

A senior administration official told reporters on Thursday that Argentine
beef likely would soon be exempt from the 10 percent tariff the U.S.
earlier this year imposed on Argentina and other trading partners with
which the U.S. had a trade surplus. (Countries with which the U.S. has a
trade deficit are subject to tariffs of at least 15 percent.)

Other than the tariff cut, the deal does not include provisions aimed at
increasing U.S. imports of Argentine beef. The administration official said
markets would determine the amount of beef the U.S. imports.

“I think we want to let the market work for beef to make sure that American
supply can be met,” the official said. “We expect that as part of the deal,
there will be natural imports of beef from Argentina to meet supply.”

The U.S. has a tariff-rate quota for beef imports, with out-of-quota
imports subject to 25 percent tariffs, the official noted. That quota, set
by Congress, is unaffected by the new trade deal, according to the official.

“I think we’re just going to let the market figure out how much beef it
needs,” the official said.

*The administration official contended that Trump’s trade policies are
leading to the dismantling of foreign trade barriers that other countries
had previously refused to address. *“We give some tariff relief on certain
products or goods, but at the same time we open up foreign markets in ways
that they have not been opened before,” the official said. “And I don't say
that in the sense of hyperbole. I say that because there are issues that
have been intractable for 25 or 30 years, issues that have been identified
in the USTR National Trade Estimate report every year for 40 years, these
issues are finally being resolved, and they're being resolved because the
president has a robust trade policy.”

The joint statement says Argentina has “dismantled many non-tariff barriers
that restricted access to its market, including import licensing, ensuring
a more level playing field for international trade, and with this Agreement
has committed not to require consular formalities for U.S. exports to
Argentina,” and adds: “Argentina will also phase out the statistical tax
for U.S. goods.”

The countries further committed to facilitate investment and trade in
critical minerals as well as to work on stabilizing global soybean trade,
among several other provisions.

*The joint statements with El Salvador, Ecuador and Guatemala say the U.S.
has agreed to remove tariffs on some goods that “cannot be grown, mined, or
naturally produced in the United States in sufficient quantities.” *Trump
in September authorized the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and the
Commerce Department to ease tariffs on such goods
<https://insidetrade.com/node/184187>, including coffee and bananas.

The deals are expected to lower prices on coffee, cocoa and bananas, the
official said, hedging that price drops fueled by tariff cuts could be
undermined by bad weather events that push prices back up. “Our expectation
is that there’ll be some positive effect for prices on things like coffee,
cocoa, bananas, [but] I can’t control the weather, right?” the official
said.

The official contended that coffee prices had risen “well before” the Trump
administration took office because of weather events.

Some goods from El Salvador and Guatemala that are covered by the Dominican
Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement, “such as textiles and
apparel products,” will also avoid tariffs, the joint statements say.

“Part of the reason we’re doing that is because we actually do have a
robust textile industry in the United States,” the official said. “And
while you’re certainly not going to reshore all of it, like president
indicated, we have textile mills, we grow cotton here. And the Central
American supply chain for textiles is quite important for American cotton
producers.”

“There’s cut-and-sew that goes on in Central American and then sometimes
there’s final manufacturing that goes on here. So that is certainly
something that we’ve looked into, that we think is appropriate,” the
official continued. “And we certainly want to have textile supply chains as
close to the United States as possible.”

The statement with Guatemala
<https://insidetrade.com/sites/insidetrade.com/files/documents/2025/nov/wto2025_0945a.pdf>
says
the country has committed to address “a wide range of non-tariff barriers
affecting trade in priority areas, including streamlining regulatory
requirements and approvals for U.S. exports including pharmaceutical
products and medical devices; removing import restrictions on
remanufactured goods; accepting U.S. auto standards; and streamlining
certificate of free sale requirements, accepting electronic certificates,
removing apostille requirements, and expediting product registration
requirements for U.S. exports.”

Ecuador, meanwhile, will “reduce or eliminate tariffs in key sectors for
the United States, including machinery, health products, ICT goods,
chemicals, motor vehicles, and certain agricultural products,” according to its
statement with the U.S.
<https://insidetrade.com/sites/insidetrade.com/files/documents/2025/nov/wto2025_0946a.pdf>

The country also plans to set tariff-rate quotas for other, unspecified
agricultural goods, it adds.

The statement with El Salvador says the country will tackle “a wide range”
of non-tariff barriers including “streamlining regulatory requirements and
approvals for U.S. exports, such as pharmaceutical products and medical
devices; removing import restrictions on remanufactured goods; accepting
U.S. auto standards; streamlining certificate of free sale requirements,
accepting electronic certificates; removing apostille requirements; and
expediting product registration requirements for U.S. exports.”

The deals also included provisions on intellectual property, labor and
other areas. -- *Dan Dupont *(*ddupont at iwpnews.com*
<ddupont at iwpnews.com>) *with
Brett Fortnam *(*bfortnam at iwpnews.com* <bfortnam at iwpnews.com>)
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