
Argentine President Cristina Fernández ruled out that the Government is planning to set a ceiling on this year’s collective bargaining and said that unions must “carry on with their salary negotiations freely by taking corporate profit into account.” She announced, however, the creation of a committee in order to follow them closely.

The Brazilian government expressed concerns over the new Argentine trade barriers going in effect on Wednesday and informed that it would “evaluate its impact and legality” before making any decisions, Foreign Trade secretary Tatiana Prazeres announced.

The US administration of President Barack Obama formally unveiled on Wednesday the “Buffett rule”, legislation to ensure that all millionaires would pay a minimum federal tax of 30%.

American Airlines said on Wednesday it needed to cut costs by 20% to stay afloat, as it met with union representatives to detail a plan for layoffs that reports said would total 13,000 workers.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned Argentina about its “lack of progress” in addressing inflation data and called on the country to implement “specific measures” within the next six months to improve it.

Spain’s Banco Santander said that 2011 net profits reveal the growing importance of its Latin America operations which contributed with 51% of the bulk. Last year net profits totalled 5.4 billion Euros, down from 8.2 billion Euros in 2010.

Brazilian beef exports declined 14% in 2011, to 820.239 tonnes swt, establishing it as the world’s third largest beef exporter behind Australia and the US (Global Trade Atlas).

Argentina’s controversial new import restrictions came into effect on Wednesday as part of the legislation on the trading sector which gives the government bureaucracy more powers to control and restrict imports.

The value of Paraguayan beef exports could drop 30% in 2012 compared to the previous year given the loss of markets following two outbreaks of Foot and Mouth Disease, FMD, points out the country’ Centre for Analysis of the Paraguayan Economy, CADEP.

Spanish carrier Spanair filed for voluntary bankruptcy Monday, officials said, three days after abruptly stopping all flights and stranding tens of thousands of passengers.