Argentina's Pacific-pact bid would make it a trade partner of the UK, raising a Falklands dilemma
Key takeaways
- Argentine Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno formalized the country's intention to join the bloc in early June.
- However, international law specialists note that the treaty does not currently include the islands and that any future extension would require the agreement of all members through an exchange of diplomatic notes.
- The Argentine government dismissed the criticism.
Why this matters: an international story with cross-border implications worth tracking.
Argentina's request to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) has reopened a question over its sovereignty claim to the Falklands, since the United Kingdom is a full member of that agreement. If it goes ahead, it would be the first trade pact of this magnitude, since the 1982 war, in which Argentina would share partner status with London outside traditional multilateral frameworks such as the United Nations or the World Trade Organization.
Argentine Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno formalized the country's intention to join the bloc in early June. Made up of twelve economies —among them Japan, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom— it accounts for close to 13% of world gross domestic product. The initiative is part of the trade-opening strategy of Javier Milei's government and, according to official data, Argentine exports to those markets exceeded $16 billion in 2025.
The sensitive point is legal and sovereign. When the United Kingdom joined the CPTPP in 2023, it reserved the possibility of extending the agreement's scope in the future to territories it considers under its international responsibility, and the report of the working group that assessed its accession expressly mentions the Falklands. However, international law specialists note that the treaty does not currently include the islands and that any future extension would require the agreement of all members through an exchange of diplomatic notes. Another element complicates the picture: the CPTPP does not allow unilateral reservations, which limits Argentina's ability to formally introduce its claim within the text.