ARGENTINA DEMANDS “SWAP” TRADING WITH THEIR WINE. EVEN THE JAPANESE CAR GIANT NISSAN HAS TO EXPORT 52 MILLION DOLLARS IN ARGENTINEAN WINE TO SELL CARS

The “quid pro quo” principle is perhaps one of the oldest and most popular in the world. In short, no one does nothing for nothing, especially in business. There are thousands of examples, especially when it comes to international agreements. To cite one, in 2009, the U.S. threatened to apply additional duties on the import of some European Union products such as mineral water, if the EU did not remove the ban on imports of U.S. beef treated with hormones.
But there has probably never been an extreme case like Argentina’s.
Japanese car giant Nissan, in order to continue exporting cars to Argentina has had to agree to support Argentina’s economy by importing some of their products to Japan, including wine, reports the site www.losandes.com.ar. The agreement signed by the Minister of Industry Debora Giorgi and the President of Nissan Argentina, Manuel Antelo, calls for Nissan to export wine for 52 million dollars. In other words, exporters to Argentina must, in turn import Argentinean products, including wine, to help keep the trade balance and jump-start the economy of a country that went bankrupt in 2001.
s a sort of “economically advanced barter” established by a national law, which does not seem to really agree with the principles of free circulation of goods, but it does say that Argentina is doing everything possible to support its wine industry. A few days ago it was reported that the government of the Mendoza region, one of the most important for Argentinean wine, put together a plan providing interest-free land facilitated loans to let wineries hold on to their wine instead of selling it below cost on the market, and direct subsidies for exports to protect producers. In this era of global markets, it is a signal for everyone to reflect upon…