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BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — <\/span>Argentina and the United States said they reached an expansive trade deal on Thursday, boosting Argentine President Javier Milei as he moves to open up<\/a> the South American nation’s notoriously protectionist economy and reflecting the close alliance between the radical libertarian and U.S. President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n Argentina’s foreign minister, Pablo Quirno, posted a selfie on social media showing him and several Argentine diplomats beaming after emerging from a meeting in Washington where he said they’d signed the pact.<\/p>\n \u201cCongratulations to our team and thanks to the U.S. Trade Representative\u2019s team for building this great agreement together,\u201d Quirno wrote. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative also confirmed the deal. <\/p>\n The countries announced a framework<\/a> for the agreement last November, saying Argentina would ease restrictions on a range of American imports, including cattle, dairy products, medicines, chemicals, machinery, medical devices and vehicles. Those were key concessions for Argentina, where local industries long protected by steep tariffs<\/a> have expressed concern about their ability to compete with American manufacturers. <\/p>\n The U.S., for its part, would remove reciprocal tariffs on imports of \u201ccertain unavailable natural resources\u201d and ingredients for pharmaceutical goods from Argentina, according to the framework. <\/p>\n At the time, the White House reached similar frameworks<\/a> with Ecuador, Guatemala and El Salvador \u2014 part of what it described as an effort to improve the ability of American firms to sell industrial and agricultural products in Latin American countries and bring down food prices for U.S. consumers. <\/p>\n Officials did not immediately offer details about the final version of the U.S.-Argentina deal signed Thursday. <\/p>\n The agreement marks the latest development in the close alliance between Trump and Milei<\/a>, who has reshaped Argentine foreign policy to align with the U.S.<\/a>, earned Trump’s praise for stabilizing<\/a> his nation’s crisis-prone economy and traveled to the U.S. more than a dozen times in the last two years. Milei is next scheduled to appear at Trump’s private Mar-a-Lago club next week to speak at a gala. <\/p>\n Trump supported Milei’s fiscal program last year with a $20 billion credit line<\/a> that succeeded in calming markets and boosting Milei\u2019s prospects<\/a> in a crucial midterm election last October. The U.S. Treasury also directly purchased U.S. dollar-denominated Argentine bonds that ratings agencies were classifying as \u201cjunk\u201d at the time and snapped up the volatile local currency that Argentines were dumping in droves. <\/p>\n The extraordinary intervention drew backlash from across the U.S. political spectrum. <\/p>\n Trump’s MAGA base questioned the need to bail out a far-flung country that’s not only of little importance to the U.S. but also directly competes with its exports of corn, wheat, meat and oil. <\/p>\n Democratic lawmakers expressed outrage that Trump was staking taxpayer money on a political gift to an ideological soulmate. <\/p>\n That criticism has continued, with U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, the top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, on Thursday appealing to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to end the $20 billion lifeline. <\/p>\n In a letter, she wrote that even though the Treasury promised its credit line for Argentina \u201cwas for an acute, short-term, and urgent purpose, it appears … to have left open the possibility of continued use.”<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n Associated Press writer Josh Boak in Washington contributed to this report. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n