Wednesday, January 4, 2023 | 5:37 p.m.
The Argentine ambassador to the United States, Jorge Argüello, held a working meeting with the Undersecretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs of the Department of State, Brian Nichols, at the headquarters of the Argentine diplomatic representation in Washington DC.
The Argentine official delivered to the Vice Foreign Minister for the Americas the formal invitation from President Alberto Fernández addressed to President Joe Biden to participate as a special guest in the VII Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States ( CELAC), which will take place in the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, on January 24.
Within the framework of the exchange, both officials reviewed the state of relations
bilateral meetings and analyzed the results of the multiple high-level visits that had
place both ways. Argüello highlighted: “The bilateral bond is going through one of its best historical moments; the quantity and quality of mutual visits by ministers, state secretaries, governors and undersecretaries, among other representatives, speaks of great intensity and of a permanent search to achieve ambitious common goals.
Among other matters, Nichols and Argüello worked on the planning of a series of commemorative events for the bicentennial of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries in 1823, which will last throughout the year and will take place in different geographical parts of the United States through of the consular representations of Argentina in New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Chicago, Atlanta and Houston. “We want to take advantage of the symbolic value of the bicentennial to further deepen diplomatic relations and work on specific axes that allow us to improve dialogue on all issues and increase bilateral trade and investment,” said Argüello.
In the context of the bicentennial, the ambassador conveyed to Assistant Secretary Nichols the
invitation from the Argentine Foreign Minister, Santiago Cafiero, so that the Secretary of
State Antony Blinken pays a visit to Argentina in 2023, giving continuity to the
visit made by the Argentine Minister to Washington DC in January 2022.
On the other hand, Argüello conveyed to Nichols some considerations regarding the
possible impact that the Inflation Reduction Law could have on trade
bilateral. Indeed, as other trading partners of the United States have argued
and as Ambassador Argüello himself did at various levels of government, said
provision, which grants subsidies to electric vehicles conditional on the content
of critical minerals for batteries, could generate incentives for a
redirection of Argentine lithium exports to other markets. Argüello
In this sense, it conveyed the Argentine interest in clarifying certain provisions
in order not to affect the flow of exports that have led Argentina to be the first
lithium supplier to the United States.
