US House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Brian Mast has warned US Secretary of State Marco Rubio of “Chinese malign influence” in a bid for a major contract in Argentina, according to a letter seen by Reuters.
The April 23 letter concerns an auction for a 25-year contract to dredge and operate Argentina’s Parana River, a vital waterway for most of the country’s agricultural exports, that Argentina estimates will reach US$10 billion in investment.
The terms of the tender, which is in its final phase with a decision expected in the coming days, explicitly barred state-owned companies, preventing bids from Chinese firms.
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But Mast alleged that China was attempting “to circumvent that choice through a private sector proxy”. There is “serious concern” that Jan De Nul, a Belgian dredging company vying for the contract, “maintains deep and ongoing links to PRC state-owned entities” through Servimagnus, an Argentine firm that is part of Jan De Nul’s consortium, the letter claimed.
Jan De Nul has managed the Parana waterway for decades and is competing for the contract against the Deme Group, whose consortium includes investment firm KKR & Co and US-based Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corporation. In the bid’s point-score system, Jan De Nul has been ahead.
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The Trump administration, a close ally of Argentina’s President Javier Milei, has expressed concern about Chinese influence in Latin America, including Argentina, where Beijing in March was its second-largest trading partner.
Awarding the contract to Jan De Nul “would be unacceptable and damaging to Argentina’s national security, America’s national security and our bilateral relationship”, the letter said.
