China is buying its first shipment of Argentine wheat in decades, at a time when farmers in the Pampas region are reaping a record harvest and President Javier Milley is cutting export tariffs in a bid to boost it. State-owned company Cofco International Ltd is loading the shipment at its facilities in the city of Tempeos, located in Argentina’s export hub on the Paraná River, making it the first shipment of this type since the 1990s. The ship will then proceed to a port on the Atlantic Ocean to load an additional 65,000 metric tons of wheat before sailing to China. The purchase comes at a time when Argentine wheat is among the cheapest in the world, thanks to a near-perfect growing season that produced a good harvest. Milly’s latest reduction in tariffs on agricultural exports also took effect on December 12, including reducing wheat tariffs by 2 percentage points to 7.5%, making Argentine shipments more competitive. Although levies on exports are frowned upon in many countries, Argentina has introduced them since the turn of the century to finance government spending. Adopting liberal leanings that seek to liberalize the economy, Milley aims to eventually abolish it altogether. Also read: China resumes buying US wheat after a year of hiatus. China is on its way to buy more wheat. This wheat trade deepens a growing trend in China to buy more crops from South America, amid a widening trade dispute with the United States. Last year, just before Donald Trump assumed the presidency, Beijing opened the door to wheat and corn imports from Argentina in a sign of its effort to diversify the sources of its food supply. During Trump’s first term, China granted approval to import Argentine soybean meal, and a few weeks ago received its first shipment, chartered by Bunge Global SA. Two additional cargoes bound for China were loaded on the Paraná River in October, although no wheat transactions have been recorded so far. Although Argentina’s wheat crop is large, the grain is of lower quality due to its low protein content, which could reduce the customs revenue Milley’s government can collect from exports to bolster the central bank’s dollar reserves. “One thing to note is that despite the high yields, the crop shows a decrease in protein content, which negatively affects the prices paid by international buyers,” the Rosario Stock Exchange Board of Trade said in a report.