International observers belief Trump may have traded Argentine lemons for development deal.
Did America's President, Donald Trump trade California lemons for land in Argentina?
The short answer is yes. The longer answer is yes, it appears so.
Tucuman Celebrates
Juan spoke to his friends as he entered the cafe. Nodding and shaking hands as he made his way around the room to his favorite table, Juan was a hero for the moment.
As president of the citrus workers union, UATRE, Juan didn’t play a part in negotiating the shipment of lemons to America, but he was in the offices of Tucuman Citrus Association, which includes all citrus growers, fresh fruit packing plants and other processing plants, when the news was announced. It was Juan who first shared the word with the rest of the workers.
For days, Tucuman residents greeted each other with “Trump es el mejor presidente de la historia de Argentina!” — Trump is the best president Argentina has ever had!
A Deal Develops
On April 27, 2017, the Argentine President, Mauricio Macri, visited Trump at The White House. The two leaders have been friends for decades, and their respective fathers had been buddies as well.
Shortly after the visit, Argentina announced that a building permit for Trump Tower in Buenos Aires had been approved. The same day,Trump announced America would start buying its lemons from Argentina.
Most observers see the arrangement as a quid pro quo.
Curt Holmes, chairman of the California Citrus Mutual, argues politics overruled any legitimate health concerns and lifting the ban places American jobs at risk.
"They dwarf us," said Holmes, one of the plaintiffs suing the USDA over its ruling on Argentine lemons. "There is an economic concern. To permit political decisions to take precedence over good science is dangerous."
Lemons
The Buenos Aires port is already loading its first shipment of Argentine lemons in 16 years. An American import ban, established in 2001 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, soured relations between the two nations.
Trump was very aware of the lemon ban in April when Macri visited. "I'll tell Mr. Macri about North Korea, and he'll teach me about lemons," Trump said. Observers started looking for a resolution in the citrus war. America, the planet's largest consumer of lemons, will now source the product from the fourth-largest producer.
The dispute has lasted for decades. Imports of Argentine lemons were restricted as America feared the fruit might be harboring pests which could damage American crops.
In 2000 when a proposal to relax the lemon ban was made, a consortium of citrus growers in California and Arizona sued to stop the import. Citrus, the farmers argued, had devolved into a bargaining chip in America's desire to open the Argentine market. The courts agreed with the farmers, and the ban remained in place.
As recently as 2014, a study showed. Argentine lemons contain excessive imazalil pesticide residue according to Food Sentry. Imazalil is a fungicide, used post-harvest and is classified by America's Environmental Protection Agency as a human carcinogen.
Trump's inauguration and his threats to pull America out of the North America Free Trade Agreement triggered concern in Argentina that the ban would be delayed — indefinitely.
Two factors helped tip the balance. Macri's longstanding business and personal relationship with Trump and the fact Argentina has a trade deficit with the USA.
It was in the cards for California's citrus producers to go bananas when they heard about Trump's decision. Some believe Trump's decision was also payback for California's strong support for Hillary Clinton.
"This lifting of the ban flies in the face of Trump's stated priorities which are to protect domestic agriculture, American businesses, and American jobs," said Joel Nelson, president of the California Citrus Mutual.
Argentina citrus growers account for 1.5 million metric tons of product annually. Argentine producers ship ninety-five percent of annual production to the European Union. The nation's top growing region is in Tucuman, about 800 miles from Buenos Aires.
Others point to shifting circumstances surrounding Trump's tower in Buenos Aires.
Trump Tower Buenos Aires
Trump Towers’ construction had languished for over a decade. The Argentine bureaucracy, already slow and inefficient, had ground to a halt like sand seizing a motor. The Trump/Macri meeting was an engine overhaul which got the government moving and the permit was issued in quick fashion.
To many observers in America and Argentina, it appears Trump and his offspring are utilizing their newly discovered political position to push a development project over the goal line. What is happening in Argentina is raising more questions about conflict of interest.
On November 14, 2016, six days after being elected, Trump talked with Argentina's president. According to Macri's spokesperson, Ivanka Trump also was on the call briefly.
Trump and Macri did a real estate transaction in New York in the late 1980s and Macri has known Ivanka since she was a girl.
Only 72-hours after the Macri-Trump discussion, YY Development Group informed La Nacion, a major newspaper in Argentina, Trump Tower construction would move forward in June 2017 with funding of $100 million.
Argentina's foreign minister, Susana Malcorra, made contact with Eric Trump with the help of Trump venture partner Felipe Yaryura. Yaryura is a Buenos Aires-based businessman and co-owner of YY Development. Yaryura has, in turns, been a close partner and fierce competitor to Macri, Argentina's president, Yaryura was also with the Trump team and family during an invitation only post-election celebration in New York's Hilton Hotel Midtown.
Malcorra and Eric Trump talked, and Eric informed Malcorra that he would see that his father spoke with Macri when the calendar permitted.
The development group also sent out a press release declaring the Argentine tower a deal done along the same model as other Trump buildings in Latin America.
"Panama, Brazil, Uruguay and soon Argentina. The capitalist Donald Trump expands his ultra-exclusive skyscrapers in South America," the release trumpeted. YY Development also developed the Trump Tower in Punta del Este, Uruguay.
The controversy ignited when a pair Argentine journalists, Jorge Lanata and Romina Manguel, reported the Trump-Macri conversation on television. The next day, Trump rebuked media coverage of the Argentine building. Trump tweeted, "Before the election, it was known I have shares in holdings globally. Only the corrupt media presents this as a big deal."
The Trump/Macri bromance hasn't always been cozy. Macri tossed his support to Hillary Clinton in September 2016.
On February 3, 2017, The Washington Post reported a costly security force for a stay by Eric at a development scheme in Uruguay. The excursion set back American taxpayers $100,000 according to the Post.
The skyscraper, in Punta del Este, is just one Trump-branded project originally proposed in South America.
Shaken by Trump's falling popularity at home and abroad, Some Latin American developers are pulling out of deals with the self-proclaimed ‘great deal maker."
In November 2016, the builders of the formidable Trump Hotel in Rio de Janeiro's Barra da Tijuca were ecstatic. Now, six months later, building crews have removed Trump's star from the hotel, and the hospitality center is called LSH Barra Hotel.
The oceanfront hotel is struggling. Just months after opening, only the lower four floors are receiving guests. A gaudy restaurant on the premises is all-but-deserted — even on weekends. The LSH Barra and another downtown Rio hotel are both specified in probes by Brazilian criminal prosecutors who are investigating presumed graft and financing irregularities.
“Graft and financing irregularities.” Sounds like Trump’s New York playbook.
Jerry Nelson has been working with writing challenged clients for 20-years. He provides ghost writing, travel content and native journalism and his work has been seen in some of the planet's more prestigious media outlets.Learn more about Jerry and his work on his website, email him at jandrewnelson2@gmail.com and join the million or so who follow him on Twitter.Never far from his coffee and Marlboro's Jerry is always interested in discussing future work opportunities.