President Donald Trump announced a series of breakthrough reciprocal trade deals on Thursday with the U.S.-friendly Latin American countries of El Salvador, Argentina, Ecuador, and Guatemala.
The deals grant streamlined access to U.S. products in those countries’ respective markets — particularly for farmers, ranchers, fishermen, small businesses, and manufacturers — in return for tariff exceptions on some imports.
With El Salvador, the White House detailed that the new deal builds upon the United States’ existing trade relationship with the Central American country. As part of the deal, the administration of President Nayib Bukele will facilitate trade, addressing non-tariff barriers and streamlining regulatory requirements for U.S. exports such as pharmaceutical products and medical devices. El Salvador pledged to address barriers pertaining to U.S. agricultural products and will move forward with international intellectual property treaties to ensure that U.S. agricultural exports will not be “restricted due to the mere use of certain cheese and meat terms.”
Other areas in which El Salvador agreed to improve trade with the U.S. include digital trade. As per the terms of the agreement, El Salvador will refrain from imposing digital service taxes on America. Both countries will support a permanent multilateral moratorium on custom duties on electronic transmissions.
President Bukele appeared to have celebrated the deal by posting the Salvadoran flag emoji on social media.
In the case of Argentina, the agreement reaffirms the alliance between President Trump and President Javier Milei. The countries agreed to open their markets to each other on key products and enact reciprocal, bilateral market access conditions for trade in beef. Argentina agreed to provide preferential market access for certain U.S. goods exports such as medicines, machinery, and a wide range of agricultural products. Argentina also committed to not require consular formalities and statistical taxes for U.S. exports.
The South American country agreed to open its market to U.S. live cattle and made further commitments for U.S. poultry within one year. Much like El Salvador, Argentina agreed to facilitate digital trade with the United States, in addition to a longer list of trade-related agreements.
“We have a deal with the United States,” President Milei wrote on social media, followed by the initials of his popular catchphrase “long live liberty, damn it!”
The Argentine presidency said in an official statement that Milei reaffirms his commitment to continue working with President Trump to deepen economic and strategic cooperation based on the “shared values that made our countries great and that defend life, liberty, and private property above all else.”
With Guatemala, the administration of President Bernardo Arévalo agreed to streamline requirements for U.S. exports and will begin accepting electronic certificates and rescinding apostille requirements and other formalities for U.S. goods.
Guatemala committed to addressing existing barriers for U.S. agricultural products, and will refrain from imposing digital services taxes or any other discriminatory measure against U.S. digital services. The Central American country will also prohibit goods from entering the country if they were produced by forced or compulsory labor.
“Good news for Guatemala’s economy! After months of intense work and frank dialogue with the United States government, we have become one of the first countries in the world to reach an agreement to reduce and eliminate tariffs,” President Arevalo wrote on social media, sharing a video in Spanish detailing the terms of the trade deal while highlighting the solid relationship between both countries.
With Ecuador, President Daniel Noboa committed to reducing or eliminating tariffs for the U.S. in key sectors such as machinery, chemicals, motor vehicles, and agriculture. The United States committed to removing reciprocal tariffs on certain Ecuadorian exports that cannot be grown, mined, or naturally produced by the United States in sufficient quantities. Ecuador also committed to addressing non-tariff barriers in a wide array of areas such as agriculture, labor, intellectual property, and advertising services.
Ecuador also agreed to maintain high levels of environmental protection and measures to improve forest sector governance, and to combat illegal logging. Additionally, Ecuador will fully eliminate an existing variable tariff on agricultural products, which will create “commercially meaningful market access opportunities” to U.S. exports in that area.
“Today’s momentous trade deals reinforce America’s aligned trade relationships with these allies while fostering more reciprocal conditions that prioritize American workers and industries, protecting U.S. national security, and strengthening supply chains in the Western Hemisphere,” the White House said, noting that the U.S. and the four countries will work “expeditiously” to finalize the trade agreements.
“President Trump has challenged the assumption that American workers and businesses must tolerate unfair trade practices that have disadvantaged them for decades and contributed to our historic global trade deficit,” the White House continued.
Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.
