The president of the Argentine Small Business Industries (IPA), Daniel Rosato, warns that the just-signed EU-Mercosur agreement will be the equivalent of “dropping a bomb” on national production which could cause the closing of 20% of Small and Medium Enterprises or SMEs. [The National Business Association for Argentine Development (ENAC) reported in November of 2024]( https://enac.org.ar/contenido/4004/cerraron-16500-pymes-en-10-meses-de-gestion-del-presidente-javier-milei) that President Javier Milei’s savage austerity policy had forced the closure of 16,500 SMEs just in the first ten months of his government, and estimates of closures for Milei’s first two years—December of 2023 to December of 2025— go as high as 20,000.
The crisis already caused by the government’s indiscriminate opening of the country to foreign imports could worsen, Rosato said, unless action is taken to strengthen SMEs. The issue of competitiveness must be addressed, he added. Otherwise, what European countries are planning, in typical colonial fashion, is to offer incentives to European companies to export manufactured goods and buy raw materials. This is an immediate threat to local employment, Rosati warned.
