Britain Lifts Ban on Argentine Goods to Improve Relations
In a bid to normalize relations, Britain announced Monday that it is lifting a ban on imports from Argentina imposed at the start of the 1982 Falklands War.
Britain called on Argentina to lift a similar ban on British products and make trade “a two-way street” but reiterated its refusal to discuss the political issue of sovereignty of the Falkland Islands, a British colony 300 miles off the coast of Argentina.
The British announcement was made in both houses of Parliament as Foreign Secretary Geoffrey Howe flew to Brazil. Brazil has represented Argentina in London since the two nations broke relations in April, 1982.
Howe told reporters on arrival in Brasilia that he will discuss the lifting of the trade embargo with Brazilian officials during his three-day visit. He declined to elaborate.
The ban, lifted as of midnight Monday, will permit Argentina to resume exports to Britain, which in 1981 were worth more than $180 million.
Britain had been Argentina’s seventh-ranking market in such items as meat and meat products, textile fibers, animal feed, ore and scrap metal.
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