Argentina's new president Mauricio Macri has followed through on his election promise to reduce export taxes, cutting rates to zero for all agricultural products except soy, which will see taxes reduced from 35% to 30%.

Agriculture Minister Ricardo Buryaile signs the decree.

The announcement was made in the town of Pergamino, around 228km (142mi) northwest of the capital Buenos Aires, and a decree was signed by Agriculture Minister Ricardo Buryaile.

Macri described the previous government's taxes and regulations as "punitive", Bloomberg reported.

"Luckily we arrived and we're here to put a new step for Argentina in motion," La Capital quoted Macri as saying.

"We all know that the structural road to put poverty to an end is work, and as I promised throughout the campaign, signing this decree will take retentions to zero in regional economies."

At the time of writing, no official press release had been published on the issue with the exception of the Agriculture Ministry's Twitter account.

Most media outlets focused on tax cuts for meat as well as commodity crops like soy, corn and sorghum, but produce industry leaders confirmed taxes would be reduced for their sector as well.

Argentine Chamber of Integrated Fruit Growers (CAFI) manager Daniel Satragni said that while fruit growers did not have the same fiscal impact as grain farmers, the previous tax policy still affected their competitiveness in global markets.

"I want to clarify that the retention of 5% with fresh pears and apples are also included," Satragni said.

Photo: Twitter

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