G-20 Host Argentina Struggles to Shake Off Protectionist Past
- Macri continues to slap tariffs at the same pace as Kirchner
- Quickly scrapping duties could revive fear of job losses
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There’s no place like Argentina for G-20 finance ministers to talk about rising global protectionism: the host of this weekend’s meeting is home to some of the world’s highest tariffs.
President Mauricio Macri took office in late 2015 with the promise to embrace free trade, yet his government has continued to impose import duties at the same pace as the protectionist government it succeeded, a Bloomberg analysis shows. Argentina’s import tariffs are also higher than those of peer G-20 nations, according to trade-weighted averages calculated by the World Trade Organization.