Europe Escalates Dispute With Argentina
Firing back after the nationalization by Argentina of assets belonging to a Spanish oil company, the European Union said Friday it would challenge what it called the South American country’s “protectionist” import restrictions at the World Trade Organization.
Although the rules have been in effect since 2005, the E.U. trade commissioner, Karel De Gucht, said Argentina “tightened the screws” in February by extending the rules to cover all imports, instead of just some product categories, prompting an outcry not only from Europe but the United States and others.
The Argentine government’s decision in April to seize the YPF unit of the Spanish company Repsol only poisoned relations further.
“The trade and investment climate in Argentina has steadily become worse over the years, and the recent expropriation of Repsol by the Argentinian state is clear proof of that,” Mr. De Gucht said. “But dig a little bit deeper and what you find is that Argentina’s trade policy has become rooted in unfair trade practices.”