U.S. Offers Argentina Up to $7 Billion in Loans to Expand Oil, Gas and Critical Minerals
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — The Trump administration said Wednesday it will earmark as much as $7 billion for loans to Argentina, funding energy, mining and infrastructure projects in a push to keep critical minerals and energy supplies closer to home while bolstering a key political ally, libertarian President Javier Milei.
The U.S. Export-Import Bank, a federal agency, will make up to $7 billion available through 2027 for projects in Argentina, according to the State Department. The financing is intended to help companies in Argentina secure loans to buy American equipment and hire U.S. firms to expand the country's railways, pipelines, ports and power networks.
The announcement comes as President Donald Trump seeks to reduce U.S. dependence on China's mineral-processing industry. It also gives a lift to Milei, who is betting that oil, gas and mineral exports can transform Argentina's economy and ease the chronic dollar shortages that have fueled repeated crises.
In a statement, the State Department said the two countries would continue to build on a robust relationship through increased U.S. investment, close security cooperation and aligned values.
The relationship has already produced tangible benefits for Milei's government. Last year, Washington backed a $20 billion International Monetary Fund bailout for Argentina and extended a separate $20 billion currency-swap line to help stabilize the Argentine peso. The two countries also signed a free trade pact earlier this year.
On the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau and Argentine Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno said Wednesday that the agreement is meant to connect Argentina's lithium- and copper-rich northwest and its sprawling Vaca Muerta shale fields to the country's ports. That would make it easier to ship minerals, oil and gas to the United States and other markets.
For years, inadequate transport and energy infrastructure has held back development of Argentina's remote deposits. The country's history of protectionist trade policies, currency controls and sovereign debt defaults has also deterred foreign investment.
Milei, a fierce believer in free markets, has moved to open Argentina's economy, scrapping import restrictions and offering tax breaks to attract investors. The shift has helped bring in cheaper imports, but it has also squeezed labor-intensive industries such as manufacturing and retail, which were already struggling under Milei's spending cuts and tight monetary policy. Booming oil production and mining exports have become an economic lifeline.
Argentina holds vast deposits of lithium and copper, minerals that are central to the global transition toward green energy. The new loan package, if fully used, could speed up projects that have been slowed by infrastructure bottlenecks and financing gaps. But it also underscores the broader geopolitical competition over supply chains for the materials needed for electric vehicles, batteries and renewable power.
Washington's move is likely to be welcomed by energy and mining companies looking for U.S. backing, though it remains to be seen how quickly the loans translate into construction and exports. Argentina's regulatory landscape, inflation and currency risks have long complicated large-scale investment, and Milei's reforms still face political and social resistance.
The loan package also carries a political dimension. By tying financing to American equipment and contractors, the United States can deepen economic ties with Argentina while advancing its own industrial and national security goals. For Milei, the support offers both financial breathing room and a signal that his market-oriented agenda has a powerful backer in Washington.