Italian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani led more than 100 Italian companies to Buenos Aires this week, met President Milei and signed two agreements, one on mutual investment and one on critical minerals.
Tajani arrived in Buenos Aires on September 8 as part of a wider South America trip continuing on to Brazil, accompanied by the Education Minister and several other Italian executives.
A Buenos Aires con il Presidente @JMilei per rafforzare il partenariato politico ed economico tra Italia e Argentina, Paesi fratelli legati da radici comuni. Grazie all'accordo del #Mercosur e al ruolo strategico delle nostre imprese faremo crescere ancora di più l'export italiano.
Translation: "In Buenos Aires with President @JMilei to strengthen the political and economic partnership between Italy and Argentina, sister countries bound by common roots. Thanks to the #Mercosur agreement and the strategic role of our businesses, we will grow Italian exports even more."
In Buenos Aires, Tajani opened a business forum alongside Argentine Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno, Confindustria and the Italian trade-promotion agency Sistema Italia. The forum drew roughly 500 companies from both countries and produced more than 1,300 business-to-business meetings across sectors including agri-food, pharmaceuticals, medical technology, energy, mechanical engineering, digital technology and defense.
The visit produced two joint declarations: one on promoting mutual investment, and a second specifically on cooperation in critical minerals. Tajani framed Argentina’s mineral resources as complementary to Italian industrial capacity, an area where Italy has been seeking to diversify its supply chains.
The mission leans on the EU-Mercosur trade agreement, which Tajani cited directly in announcing the trip. Italy’s trade with the Mercosur bloc, the South American trade group that includes Argentina and Brazil, reached 14.7 billion euros in 2025, up 51 percent from 2019, with Argentina and Brazil together accounting for more than 92 percent of that total; trade in the first half of 2026 was up another 8.7 percent over the same period last year. More than 300 Italian-owned companies already operate in Argentina.
Tajani’s delegation continued on to Sao Paulo on September 9 and 10 for a second leg focused on Brazil, Italy’s largest trading partner in South America, where more than 1,100 Italian companies operate and two-way trade exceeded 11 billion euros in 2025.