U.S., Argentina hold second trade council meeting

The two governments discussed agriculture, global steel overcapacity and ongoing international trade negotiations.    U.S. and Argentine officials in Washington, D.C., on Friday held the second meeting of the U.S.-Argentina Council on Trade and Investment under the bilateral Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) launched in 2016, says a joint statement released Monday by the Trump administration and Argentine government.
   Officials discussed bilateral agricultural market access issues, ongoing work in the Global Forum on Excess Steel Capacity and their respective ongoing international trade negotiations and initiatives, the statement says.
   Officials from the two governments also discussed cooperation on fisheries subsidies, industrial subsidies and state-owned enterprises, the statement says.
   “The United States and Argentina look forward to continuing a constructive and open engagement under the TIFA with the goal of strengthening bilateral and economic ties to the benefit of both countries,” the statement says. “The two countries also agreed to work together toward a commercially meaningful outcome in the ongoing World Trade Organization initiative on electronic commerce.”
   Bilateral goods and services trade totaled $26.3 billion in 2017, with two-way trade in goods composing about 54.3 percent of that, according to the statement.