Once again negotiations between farm leaders and the Argentine government broke down Thursday night. According to Argentine Cabinet Chief Alberto Fernandez the government is not in a hurry to make any changes to the sliding-scale tax on soybean exports that is at the heart of the protests and strikes that have been held over the past several months.
"We met after 16 days of a strike and the farm sector came out saying it was necessary to have a response yesterday," Fernandez said. "I ask myself, if there was so much urgency, why were they not speaking for 16 days?"
The farmers had been on strike since May 8 to protest the tax. The government refused to meet with farm group leaders until they suspended the strike, but farmers at first were hesitant to back off until the government made some concessions. Farmers have complained bitterly that the sliding-scale plan's 95% tax on any soy value higher than $600 per ton effectively caps prices and makes futures trading impossible.
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