MAGA - Make Argentina Great Again?

[TechPapi]

Trump’s foreign policy shenanigans are causing pain and confusion for red-state farmers and ranchers. The howls of protest from the right are growing louder.

• Everyone has one loyal friend they can call when they’re in a bind and their luck’s run out. For Argentina’s MAGA-loving President Javier Milei, that buddy is President Donald Trump, who scraped together $20 billion (or maybe $40 billion) to rescue the far-right leader’s economy from collapse — despite the U.S. government shutdown. The bailout paid off: Milei, the chainsaw-welding, mutton-chop sporting, libertarian eccentric, won re-election in a landslide today.

• Trump cheered. But key members of his farm-state Republican base are baffled — and pissed off. Saving Milei meant throwing U.S. money at foreign farmers and ranchers, at a moment when American soybean growers and beef producers are complaining bitterly about the competition. Outrage is building over a U.S. plan to buy 80,000 metric tons of beef from Argentina — four times the normal amount — in part to lower beef prices in grocery stores. The big MAGA beef over beef is only getting meatier.

• “Why the actual FUCK would we buy Argentinian beef?” MAGA influencer Tomi Lahrentweeted last week. “Our AMERICAN ranchers are getting crushed already by cheap shit foreign beef imports. The meat packers are already under cutting our AMERICAN producers as it is. This is an OUTRAGE.”

• But wait, it gets worse. The Trump bailout helped Argentina suspend its export tax on soybeans. China pounced, buying up 7 million metric tons of the produce… because Trump’s tariff war made American soybeans too expensive. China bought zero soybeans from the U.S. this summer and has no future orders. The result: American farmers are hurting.

• “We’re pulling money out of our retirement savings,” Wisconsin soybean farmer Phil Verges told the What A Day podcast. “That’s difficult because we’re in the years where we want to be putting more away so we can prepare for retirement. ... If I were 10 years younger, I would probably be in a situation of seriously considering stopping farming and having to find a job off the farm.”
  
  Trump is hoping a soybean deal with Chinese leader Xi Jinping this week will fix the damage. In plain English, he’s trying to solve the problem he created… by backing down.
• Trump’s team is hailing the framework of a trade deal recently reached with Beijing. The details remain hazy. But the terms suggest China will buy more American soybeans and pause export controls on rare-earth minerals. In other words… U.S.-China trade relations look set to go right back to where they were before Trump kicked off this big dumb trade war in the first place.

• What is really going on? As always with Trump, it’s hard to be sure where the chaos stops, and the corrupt self-dealing begins. There’s speculation that Trump’s team, led by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, bailed out Argentina to help wealthy fund managers — many of whom are Bessent’s friends. For instance, BlackRock, Fidelity and Pimco have major investments in Argentina. If the economy collapsed, so would their investments.

• What’s more, Trump now has Milei wrapped around his finger. “He likes flatterers and mimics, and that might be the best explanation for this bailout,” Benjamin Gedan, director of the Latin America program at the Stimson Center, told What A Day. “That said, the White House will likely now push for preferential treatment for U.S. mining companies eyeing Argentina’s lithium, copper, and uranium, and Argentina will no doubt be urged to reevaluate its relationship with China.”

Who will draw the short straw: Trump’s rich buddies, his Argentinian ally, or down-on-their-luck American farmers?

[Precious_b]

I loved hearing one maggie here trying to defend this not realizing he is totally out of contact with how average ranchers operate.

[Mort Watt]

Originally Posted by TechPapi

Trump’s foreign policy shenanigans are causing pain and confusion for red-state farmers and ranchers....

No, no, NO!!

The Soybean farmers are going to be fine!

Trump is fixing it as we speak. Meeting with Xi, straightening this all out.

Of course, he caused it to begin with.

But he's fixing it, goddammit!

You don't have to believe me. The MAGA cheerleaders will let you know bigly!

[Tiny]

The press is making a similar mistake with this deal as it did when Obama handed back $150 billion of Iran's money to Iran. This is not our money that Trump's handing (Obama handed) over. The $20 billion is a swap line which may or may not be drawn on by Argentina. Assuming it's utilized, the USA will buy pesos for dollars. And at some point in the future the USA will exchange those pesos back for dollars at a pre-arranged rate, and probably receive compensation for providing the facility. Unless the deal blows up, the Treasury makes money.

In a separate unrelated deal, the USA bought Argentine pesos on the open market, ostensibly to keep the peso stable. It's now either sitting on a small profit from those transactions, or it's already realized a large profit when the peso rapidly appreciated after election results were announced. Please note that the U.S.'s support for Milei, including the swap line that would presumably be withdrawn if his party lost control, swayed the election. That in turn boosted the value of the peso. And now the USA is sitting on a realized or unrealized profit. Bessent's running the Treasury Department like a hedge fund! Which makes sense, considering he was a hedge fund manager. He was instrumental in George Soros' legendary bet against the pound. Speculating on the value of the Argentine peso when you're Treasury Secretary is probably a better bet than even that.

The Trump administration raised the quota on imported Argentine beef to 80,000 metric tons. Annual consumption of beef in the USA is about 12 million tons per annum, so that's 0.7% of annual consumption. It should remove the quota entirely. The price of beef has become unaffordable for many Americans:

https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/APU0000703112

Please look at the chart. If politicians had a quota on oil imports when the price of gasoline was $5.00 a gallon, we'd all scream bloody murder. For some reason the farmers and ranchers get a pass.

I share your (TechPapi, Precious_b, Mort Watt) concerns about the effect of the trade wars on soybean farmers. And even though I far prefer Milei's economic policies over Lula's, would point out Argentina is being treated far different from Brazil. The USA placed 50% tariffs on Brazilian products, even though it has a large surplus in trade and services with Brazil. And so Brazil retaliated with its own tariffs. How much sense does that make? It's like shooting off your nose to spite your face.

[Mort Watt]

You are the most objective person on here. Thanks for the detail. We could all learn. But I am skeptical that at this point we can all step back and start talking more rationally. I don't mean in regards to this topic. I mean overall. Very frustrating.

[Yssup Rider]

Tomi Lahren obviously has never had an Argentine steak. They are goooo-oood! The money, not so much. The good people of Argentina are desperate to get out of the economic abyss. Milei is cruising on that sentiment. That, and a shitty wig. Sound familiar? We could be the good people of Argentina after a couple more years of this chaos.

Good for American Farmers? Fuck American Farmers First. Then Fuck American Ranchers. (Another America First policy)

Meanwhile, Nero plays the international currency market with taxpayer dollars while working Americans are sucking buttermilk at home.

Me, I'll take a good, grass-fed asado any day of the week. Good Argentine steak is right up there with pussy.

[Tiny]

Originally Posted by Yssup Rider

Tomi Lahren obviously has never had an Argentine steak. They are goooo-oood!...Me, I'll take a good, grass-fed asado any day of the week. Good Argentine steak is right up there with pussy.

Good point! If Argentina reneges on the swap agreement, we can invade and take their cows.

Originally Posted by Mort Watt

You are the most objective person on here. Thanks for the detail. We could all learn. But I am skeptical that at this point we can all step back and start talking more rationally. I don't mean in regards to this topic. I mean overall. Very frustrating.

Thanks Mort Watt