Argentina and UAE Open Mining and Energy Trade Talks

Argentina · Economy

Argentina has spent two years selling its copper, lithium and shale gas to anyone with capital. The Gulf is the newest buyer at the table, and the argument at home has not gone away.

Argentine Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno met Emirati trade minister Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi in New York on 24 September 2026. They announced the start of talks on a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, the trade format the Emirates use worldwide.

Why This Matters

Argentina holds some of the largest untapped copper and lithium deposits in the Americas. It also holds Vaca Muerta, the shale formation that has turned the country into a gas exporter.

What it has lacked since its 2001 default is patient foreign capital. President Javier Milei’s government has answered that with tax incentives rather than state spending.

The Emirates are one of the few investors able to write cheques of the size these projects need. Abu Dhabi’s state oil company is already a partner in Argentina’s largest energy plan.

For readers in London or New York, this is a test of the Milei investment model. The model promises long tax stability in exchange for capital that arrives quickly.

The argument in Argentina is about who captures the benefit of that bargain. Provincial governments and industrial unions say the equipment is imported and the jobs are few.

The government says protection makes goods dearer and keeps Argentines poorer. Both positions are now attached to every mining and energy announcement the country makes.

What Was Agreed in New York

Nothing has been signed, and both sides described the meeting as the opening of negotiations. The announcement came during the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly.

Infobae reported that the talks cover mining and strategic minerals, energy and agribusiness. They also cover artificial intelligence, data centres, pharmaceuticals, aerospace, tourism and urban development.

MDZ reported that both governments pointed to an existing investment treaty and a double taxation convention. Those two instruments are the legal base on which any new agreement would sit.

Emirati figures cited by Infobae put non-oil trade between the countries at US$767.5 million in 2025. That was 42.6% more than in 2024, though trade publications have reported a higher total on the same growth rate.

The Emirati statement named the tie-up between YPF and XRG, the international arm of Abu Dhabi’s oil company. Italy’s Eni is the third partner in that venture, Infobae reported.

That partnership is developing Argentina LNG, a scheme costed at about US$51 billion. It would ship 12 million tonnes of liquefied gas a year from the coast of Rio Negro.

How the RIGI Incentive Regime Works

RIGI stands for the Large Investment Incentive Regime, created by Law 27,742 in 2024. That law is the Ley de Bases, the deregulation package Milei pushed through in his first year.

The regime is open to forestry, tourism, infrastructure, mining, technology, steel, energy and oil and gas. The entry ticket is US$200 million for most sectors and US$600 million for offshore oil and gas.

Strategic long-term export projects need US$2 billion, according to the Argentine consulate in New York. Companies must deploy 40% of the minimum within two years, a threshold that can fall to 20%.

In return, corporate income tax drops from 35% to 25% for the life of the project. Dividend tax falls to 7%, and to 3.5% after seven years.

Import duties on capital goods are waived, and export duties fall away after the second or third year. Companies may hold and move foreign currency with fewer restrictions than other Argentine firms.

Above all, the law promises 30 years of regulatory stability against later changes. Applications close on 8 July 2027, unless the government extends the window by a year.

Germany’s Separate Pitch to Vaca Muerta

The Gulf is not the only economy looking at Argentine energy this week. Eduardo Gorchs, president of the German-Argentine chamber of commerce, set out a German offer on 25 September.

He also runs Siemens in Argentina, which gives the pitch a commercial edge. Gorchs told LM Neuquen that Germany has much to contribute to Vaca Muerta through technology.

The focus, he said, is electrification, energy efficiency and industrial instrumentation rather than drilling. His argument was that the cheapest energy is the energy a field never consumes.

The chamber represents more than 300 member companies across 35 sectors and turns 110 this year. It will make the case at its annual forum on 27 October at the Buenos Aires Grain Exchange.

Germany already buys Argentine gas under a binding eight-year contract signed on 4 March 2026. The Rio Times reported that deal with the state-owned buyer SEFE, worth more than US$7 billion over its life.

Where the Provinces and Unions Object

The loudest complaint about RIGI is not about tax but about purchasing. The regime obliges approved projects to buy only 20% of their goods and services locally.

Mining provinces have written much tougher rules into their own permits, Editorial RN reported in June. Santa Cruz demands 90% local labour and half of annual supplier spending inside the province.

Catamarca requires 70% of goods, works and services from registered provincial suppliers. Salta and Jujuy set a similar 70% threshold, with local employment quotas by project phase.

San Juan legislated 80% local workforce and 60% of annual purchases from provincial providers. An analysis published by Perfil in August found that imports through project vehicles reached US$284 million by mid-2026.

It reported that 87% of that spending went on metal products Argentine factories already make. Steel tanks accounted for US$75.2 million and pipeline tubing for US$11.2 million, the same analysis said.

The metalworkers’ union UOM has run protest campaigns against import liberalisation since 2025, IndustriALL reported. Its complaint is that cheap imports arrive faster than the new mining jobs do.

What the Government and Business Say

Economy Minister Luis Caputo rejected the protection argument in public on 2 September. He said it was unfair for Argentines to pay two to four times more for worse goods.

Everyone defends their own interests, he added, and his job was to defend Argentines. The Argentine Industrial Union, the main employers’ body, put the counter-case with its own numbers.

Its president Martin Rapallini said 90,000 registered industrial jobs had gone since August 2023. He asked for a bridge of credit and support while the adjustment runs its course.

The employers’ body has also warned that differing provincial rules raise project costs, Editorial RN reported. Provincial supplier chambers have asked for RIGI-equivalent treatment, Editorial RN reported.

The Numbers So Far

RIGI approvals have been concentrated in oil, gas and mining rather than manufacturing. Research cited by Datagremial counted 21 approved projects worth US$46.7 billion.

Those projects were linked to about 95,175 direct and indirect jobs, the same research said. The Rio Times reported in August that mining alone had US$39 billion of projects presented under the regime.

Twelve of those, worth about US$21 billion, had been approved at that point. The employment map is narrower than the investment map.

Only Neuquen, Rio Negro and San Juan added registered jobs under Milei, the Datagremial study found. Neuquen gained 7.6% while Tierra del Fuego lost 13.1% of its registered employment.

Royalty income has moved the other way in the south, an analysis in Perfil noted. Neuquen’s accumulated royalties rose about 30% in 2026, and Patagonia took 64% of the national total.

What It Means If You Live or Invest in Argentina

For investors, a Gulf agreement would add a second political guarantee on top of RIGI. Treaty protection is what buyers of Argentine risk have asked for since the last default.

For residents in Neuquen, San Juan or Salta, the near-term effect is construction work and housing pressure. For workers in Tierra del Fuego or the Buenos Aires industrial belt, the trend has been the other way.

For exporters, the Emirati market is small today but sits beside the Gulf’s re-export hubs. For anyone holding Argentine bonds, the talks matter mainly as a signal about future dollar inflows.

None of that changes the peso, the tariff schedule or the tax code this month. The agreement is a negotiation, not a treaty, and no text has been published.

What Is Not Yet Known

Neither government has set a timetable or named the negotiating teams. No tariff schedule, investment commitment or sectoral chapter has been made public.

It is unclear how a bilateral pact would sit with Argentina’s obligations inside Mercosur. The two published totals for 2025 non-oil trade do not match, and neither side has reconciled them.

Whether German equipment suppliers win Vaca Muerta contracts is a commercial question, not a signed one. The provinces and the national government have still not agreed a common local-content rule.

Frequently Asked Questions

Sources: Infobae, the government opens negotiations with the Emirates, MDZ, trade and investment treaty talks after the US agreement, Mining.com.au, the Emirati statement on minerals talks, BNamericas, trade pact talks on mining, energy and AI, Argentine consulate in New York, guide to the RIGI regime, LM Neuquen, German technology interest in Vaca Muerta, Perfil, royalties, imports and the metalworking industry under RIGI, Editorial RN, mining provinces demand higher local purchasing, El Argentino Diario, Caputo answers the industrial employers, Datagremial, registered employment by province and RIGI projects, IndustriALL, the UOM campaign on industrial jobs