In Argentina, talk of leaving or at least bypassing Mercosur—the South American trade bloc that also includes Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay—is ramping up as the Javier Milei administration seeks to open the country’s economy. On August 20, Minister of Foreign Affairs Pablo Quirno said that “we have no time to lose” in finding new trade partners. “We want to do it with Mercosur, but if the bloc doesn’t keep pace with what we need, we’ll move forward bilaterally,” he added. 

On August 21, Deputy Minister of Economy José Luis Daza posted on X that “Mercosur has condemned its people to worse technology, worse goods, and much higher prices.… It’s time to seize all the opportunities the global economy has to offer and abandon protectionism.”

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