Buenos Aires, Jan 19 (NA) — The president of the Argentine Small and Medium-sized Industries Association (IPA), Daniel Rosato, warned that the trade agreement between Mercosur and the European Union poses a threat to national production if small and medium-sized enterprises are not strengthened beforehand. The leader stated that without a competitiveness plan, market opening will exacerbate the current crisis and lead to the disappearance of two out of ten industrial establishments. Rosato demanded the 'immediate formation' of a working group to design strategies that allow the sector to take advantage of the treaty. According to the industrial representative, if competition conditions are not balanced, the agreement will function as a 'bomb for national production' that will turn the country into a stage for a commercial dispute between powers. The entity's position was disseminated through a report from the IPA Small and Medium-sized Industries Observatory, accessed by the Argentine News Agency. The leader stated that European countries plan incentives to export manufactured goods and buy raw materials, which puts local employment at risk. 'If Argentina does not take note of this action to level the playing field, we will face a massacre of industrial SMEs that will see a sustained flood of imported products,' said Rosato. To avoid this scenario, the head of IPA called for financing and productive benefits that allow factories to reach an international level of competitiveness. Rosato warned that the primarization of exports will generate an unsustainable trade deficit due to the lack of dollars and emphasized: 'If integration is proposed on these terms, we will not be partners of the EU, but merely a customer.' Finally, the SME representative highlighted that it is essential to reduce foreign currency operational costs and establish a clear economic plan. 'In an open economy like the one the government proposes, lowering our dollar costs is key,' Rosato concluded, emphasizing that signing the treaty will not bring automatic benefits.
