“The countryside is one of the main engines of our country. Argentina should be an agricultural power, but it is not because of the constant punishment of the sector,” said president-elect Javier Milei prior to the Paso on August 13 in a meeting with the agricultural chain.
And there he had already anticipated what he will do in his administration. The main measure, which is the unanimous request of the producers, is the removal of withholdings. As he had promised, I was going to eliminate them without exception. Today, soybeans are taxed at 33%, cereals -corn and wheat-, 12%, and meat, 9%. In addition, he assured to eliminate all interventions in the market.
“Working to shrink the State and eliminate taxes”Diana Mondino, the economist chosen to handle foreign policy after the first meeting with Milei as president-elect, posted on her social network, which could be taken as a nod to the countryside, since it represents 70% of Argentina’s total exports.
Milei chose the Fauba reference Fernando Vilella to manage the policies of the agricultural sector. Then they also joined Pedro Vigneau current president of Maizar (corn chain) and German Pattsformer owner of Barbechando.
Vilella is not only an outstanding academic, but also has an important career. In addition to his current position at the UBA, he was dean of the institution and professor in various master’s degrees. He is also the author of 15 books, 12 book chapters, three videos and 39 international publications.
Although he has not yet accepted the position, the Fauba expert presented a paper to Milei on the main policies what the countryside needs to grow in production and be increasingly sustainable, based on the bioeconomy.
“They called me to generate a project for the agricultural area. I presented documents that were accepted and today they are part of the proposal for the space,” said Vilella prior to the runoff.
These texts, according to Vilella, reflect guidelines so that the field can take off. In summary, there is the need to generate the most qualified human resources, increase investment in science and technology, improve environmental care and sustainability, the need for a germplasm law (misnamed seeds), elimination of exchange gaps and as soon as possible, of the withholdings.
“Deregulate or repeal everything that artificially affects the value of exported products and services“, assures as the main measure of the document that the president-elect already has in his hands. “The markets for everything we produce exist, our problem is one of supply, not demand and this supply is not generated by the disincentive to investments that require a medium or long term of amortization. The lack of confidence in the stability of the rules of the game is an important part to resolver,” he added.
The reaction of rural leaders
The Argentine Rural Society (SRA), led by Nicolás Pino, congratulated Javier Milei, expressing its willingness to “work together on solutions to the problems posed by the country.”
“The new government will have the support of the countryside, because now a great opportunity opens up to work together to make a radical change in current policies,” said the SRA.
“We have been warning for years: with intervened markets, export quotas, distortion in the exchange rate and high tax pressure, among other factors, production is stagnant,” the rural entity stressed.
Argentine Rural Confederations (CRA) greeted the new president and immediately demanded to be heard. “We hope that it convenes the productive sector to work together and outline agricultural policies for the countryside,” they said. Likewise, they asked for the lowering and elimination of taxes such as export duties. “We hope that it will be soon to begin traveling along the path of growth for our country,” they stressed.