Wednesday, January 18, 2023 | 7:16 p.m.
The White House notified the Argentine embassy in Washington this Wednesday of the presence of its representation at the summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) that will take place in Buenos Aires on January 24. The news was released by the Argentine ambassador in Washington, Jorge Argüello, through his Twitter account. Although the White House ruled out the presence of Joe Biden, it did reaffirm that his country will have a presence at the event.
Special Advisor to the President🇺🇸 Joe Biden @POTUS for the Americas, @SenChrisDoddconfirms that you will travel to Buenos Aires to represent the US at the VII Summit @PPT_CELAC.
He will lead a delegation made up of officials from the National Security Council (NSC) and @StateDept.
— Jorge Argüello (@JorArguello) January 18, 2023
Thus, the US delegation will be led by President Biden’s Special Advisor for the Americas, Chris Dodd, for the meeting that will convene the leaders, foreign ministers and representatives of the 33 member countries of the regional mechanism, as well as observers from different regional organizations and multilaterals and their representatives.
Meeting with the Undersecretary of the Department of State
On the other hand, Argüello also had a face-to-face meeting with the Head of the White House State Department, José Fernández. The work meeting was held at the headquarters of the Argentine Embassy in Washington DC. Within the framework of the exchange, both officials reviewed the state of bilateral relations in economic and investment matters within the framework of the Bicentennial of diplomatic relations between the two countries that is celebrated in 2023.
Together with their work teams, Fernández and Argüello analyzed investment opportunities in the field of critical mining and referred to the importance of the evolution of the “Minerals Security Partnership” initiative. “The United States is the first foreign investor in Argentina and the third commercial partner. Our country has the potential to consolidate investments and attract new capital flows in the field of mining and renewable energy, among other strategic sectors. We are, for example, the first lithium supplier in the United States”, stated Argüello.
The head of the diplomatic mission highlighted the importance of Argentine lithium as an essential component of batteries within the framework of the ambitious electromobility programs carried out by the automotive industry. In this sense, the Ambassador mentioned the possible impact that the United States Inflation Reduction Act could have on bilateral trade, an instrument that grants subsidies to electric vehicles conditioned on the North American content of critical minerals for batteries.
“Argentina has the capacity to scale its production ten times to keep up with both this extraordinary demand for international and national lithium. The Law for the Reduction of Inflation could constitute an obstacle to some of the objectives proposed by both countries, including the need to encourage investments so that our industry can grow in terms of added value throughout the value chain,” he stated. Ambassador Argüello.
Likewise, the Ambassador referred to the Bicentennial: “We are going to fill the historical data of the 200 years of diplomatic relations with activities and content to promote more bilateral trade, more investments and deepen the bond in every way, through specific actions in Washington DC and in all jurisdictions where Argentina has consulates”.
