BUENOS AIRES, Feb. 20 (UPI) -- The announcement of the closure of FATE, the only tire manufacturer entirely owned by the Argentine capital and with more than 80 years of history, became the most visible symbol of the fracture facing industry under the government of Javier Milei.
FATE's decision, announced on Wednesday, was made due to the company's inability to compete with a wave of imported tires arriving from Asia at prices far below local costs.
FATE's case was not isolated. According to the association Industriales Pymes Argentinos, or IPA, more than 22,000 companies have closed and more than 300,000 formal jobs have been lost over the past two years as a result of a trade liberalization policy that reduced tariffs with the promise of lowering consumer prices.
This strategy left local production facing competition that many business owners describe as unequal and difficult to sustain.
Daniel Rosato, the IPA president, told UPI that over the past two years, the country experienced an avalanche of imports, ranging from capital goods to food products.
