Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent recently pledged $20 billion of support to Argentina to prevent its currency from sliding further and to backstop Javier Milei’s Trump-like economic agenda. Then, Argentina turned around and lowered its export tariffs and dumped its soybean crop on the market. They found a willing buyer in China, who has ceased purchasing U.S. agriculture due to the Trump tariff war. The whole affair boiled over when an AP photographer snapped a picture of a text thread on Bessent’s phone from Agriculture Secretary Brooke Collins who said U.S. soybean farmers were livid because their market collapsed. It’s another example of the Trump administration putting ideology and pettiness ahead of his own constituents. But there’s a larger game afoot that no one is talking about that this situation perfectly illustrates: We’re playing checkers and China is playing chess. Chapters Intro: 00:00:36 Post Show Musings: 00:25:22 Outro: 00:27:43 Resources Americas Quarterly: A Key Pending Challenge for Milei’s Argentina New York Times: Milei Vowed to Fix Argentina’s Economy. Then Came a New Crisis Newsweek: Trump’s Argentina bailout sparks fury among farmers, Republicans Paul Krugman: Why Is Trump Bailing Out Argentina? Federal Reserve: Dollarization in Argentina The Observatory of Economic Complexity: United States (USA) and Argentina (ARG) Trade International Trade Administration: Argentina - Market Overview MercoPress: Argentina records 21st straight trade surplus CEIC Data: Argentina Consolidated Fiscal Balance, 1993 – 2025 Americas Quarterly: Milei’s Path to Dollarization: Riddled with Doubts J.P. Morgan: De-dollarization: The end of dollar dominance? Become a UNFTR Member Book Love Carol Wise: Dragonomics: How Latin America Is Maximizing (or Missing Out On) China's International Development Strategy -- If you like #UNFTR, please leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts and Spotify: unftr.com/rate and follow us on Facebook , Bluesky , TikTok and Instagram at @UNFTRpod. Visit us online at unftr.com . Join our Discord at unftr.com/discord . Become a member at unftr.com/memberships . Buy yourself some Unf*cking Coffee at shop.unftr.com . Visit our bookshop.org page at bookshop.org/shop/UNFTRpod to find the full UNFTR book list, and find book recommendations from our Unf*ckers at bookshop.org/lists/unf-cker-book-recommendations . Access the UNFTR Musicless feed by following the instructions at unftr.com/accessibility . Unf*cking the Republic is produced by 99 and engineered by Manny Faces Media ( mannyfacesmedia.com ). Original music is by Tom McGovern ( tommcgovern.com ). The show is hosted by Max and distributed by 99. Support the show: https://www.unftr.com/memberships See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
