July 3rd, 2026
1. Diego Santilli took office as chief of cabinet and began outlining the legislative agenda
On Tuesday, Diego Santilli officially became the fourth chief of cabinet in Javier Milei’s administration, replacing Manuel Adorni, who resigned over the weekend after three months at the center of a media and legal storm. Twelve governors from across the country (and of various political affiliations) attended the swearing-in ceremony as a gesture of political support for his appointment. The presence of more than half of the provincial leaders is no coincidence, as Santilli takes on this role after serving as Minister of the Interior—a position that led him to maintain close ties with several provinces. Despite his promotion, the Ministry of the Interior will not fall outside his purview, as the ministry will be absorbed into the Office of the Chief of Staff and its functions will pass to Gustavo Coria, the newly appointed deputy interior minister, who reports directly to the former PRO leader. The coordinating minister quickly took up his new role at a meeting held by the La Libertad Avanza (LLA) senators and allied blocs, led by Patricia Bullrich (LLA), to define the legislative strategy for the coming weeks and move forward with organizing a session before the winter recess—ideally on July 16. There, the ruling party will seek to move forward with the agenda items that were left pending after last week’s session was adjourned. Among the initiatives most likely to reach the floor are the bill on the Inviolability of Private Property proposed by the executive branch, a series of diplomatic and judicial notes, and five international agreements. Santilli, for his part, sought to accelerate negotiations regarding the reform of the Cold Zone regime, one of the government’s priority projects for the second half of the year.
Perfil: Javier Milei le tomó juramento como nuevo jefe de Gabinete a Diego Santilli junto a Manuel Adorni
2. Economic activity and tax revenue declined following earlier upticks
Economic activity posted a 1.5% month-over-month decline in April, according to INDEC, after rebounding 3.5% in March. Despite this, the year-over-year change rose 1.6%, and the year-to-date figure grew 0.3%. Seven of the fifteen sectors in the EMAE index posted increases, led by Mining and Quarrying (17.1% year-over-year) and Agriculture (10.9% year-over-year), which together contributed 1.8 percentage points. In contrast, eight sectors declined, notably Fishing (-28.4% y-o-y), Manufacturing (-2.9% y-o-y), and Trade (-3.2% y-o-y), subtracting 0.9 percentage points from the indicator. Meanwhile, tax revenue in June totaled $20.02 trillion, representing a nominal increase of 23.7% year-over-year. However, with estimated inflation near 33.6% year-over-year, revenue suffered a real decline of 7.4% year-over-year, halting the slight recovery seen in May. ARCA attributed this decline to the deferral of income tax and personal property tax for individuals to July, as well as to the decline in foreign trade. The latter was due to lower export duties (resulting from a high base of comparison and lower rates on soybeans, wheat, and corn) combined with a slowdown in imports that affected customs duties.
3. The dollar surpassed $1,510, and the Central Bank intervened in the futures market to curb the rise
The retail dollar posted a series of days with slight increases over the past month, reaching $1,510—a trend also seen in the informal market, the “contado con liquidación” market, and the wholesale market. In this regard, the Central Bank of the Argentine Republic (BCRA) has already begun to act through alternative channels and intervened this week without resorting to the direct sale of reserves. The two tools used were the sale of dollar futures contracts and the issuance of dollar-linked bills—Treasury securities that adjust based on the official dollar’s performance. The intervention by the institution led by Santiago Bausili focused on the futures contract maturing at the end of July, although the volume traded in that segment was not significant. Government officials assert that the recent rise in the dollar is not significant and is primarily due to exogenous factors. “The U.S. dollar has strengthened against other currencies. This isn’t something happening here; it’s happening worldwide, and that’s being felt in emerging markets like Argentina,” explained a source at the Casa Rosada.
4. The government reduced export taxes on 1,000 industrial products
The national government officially announced a new reduction in export duties (D.E.) for a range of industrial products, with the aim of improving the competitiveness of exports and promoting value addition within the country. The measure was established by Decree 566/2026 and affects activities that are currently subject, for the most part, to a rate ranging from 3% to 4.5%. The regulation sets the export duty rate at 0% for goods classified under the tariff headings listed in Annex I of the decree, while for another group of products it establishes a phased reduction schedule that will be implemented in stages through June 2027. In this regard, the rate was reduced to zero for chemicals, steel, aluminum, copper, zinc, tin, other industrial metals, and part of the automotive sector’s production. A phased reduction was also implemented for specific petrochemicals such as benzene, toluene, and methanol; plastics and resins such as polyethylene, polypropylene, and PVC; selected fertilizers; natural and synthetic rubber; abrasives; and a significant portion of the automotive supply chain, which includes cars, pickup trucks, trucks, buses, vehicle bodies, and certain auto parts. The decree also modifies the treatment of certain petroleum oils, bituminous mineral oils, and other derivatives, for which it establishes a specific schedule for reducing the applicable tax rates
5. Argentine business leaders warned of a sharp increase in smuggling
According to the Argentine Chamber of Commerce and Services (CAC), smuggling results in tax losses of between US$3 billion annually. The most concerning issue involves cell phones, whose illegal share of the market rose from 7% to 35%, with 3 million devices smuggled into the country each year. The chamber also warns about beer, cigarettes, textiles, and food. CAC President Natalio Grinman also denounced under-invoicing schemes in imports, such as Chinese jeans declared at just 10 cents per unit—a claim that Customs denied, though it acknowledged similar cases involving T-shirts and cited technological and staffing limitations in monitoring e-commerce and the courier system. Government officials, such as Security Secretary Martín Ferlauto, highlighted progress such as the Güemes Plan on the northern border, which has led to sharp increases in seizures, though they acknowledged that the problem has geopolitical implications and serves as a source of funding for transnational criminal networks.
IProfesional: Empresarios alertan por crecimiento del contrabando y denuncian fraude en importaciones