Alfredo Chiaradía

Alfredo Chiaradía trained in political economy at the University of Buenos Aires and taught economic theory before entering the diplomatic service in 1971. His postings included the consulate and trade promotion center in Frankfurt, the UN mission in New York, and the embassy in Japan. He also held senior posts covering Latin American policy and international economic negotiations, and represented Argentina at the international organizations in Geneva and the WTO in 2002–04. ¹

As secretary for international trade and economic relations, Chiaradía negotiated the balance between agricultural and industrial concessions in the Doha trade round. In June 2008 he and Indian commerce secretary Gopal Pillai jointly pressed for deeper reductions in developed country agricultural support while retaining flexibility for vulnerable industries in developing countries. The position linked Argentina's agricultural export interests with its concern about the scale of proposed industrial tariff cuts. ²

In April 2010 Chiaradía met Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Miriam Sapiro in Washington to reactivate the bilateral trade and investment council, which had not met since 2003. Later that year he became ambassador, succeeding Héctor Timerman. He also performed the G20 negotiating role known as sherpa, coordinating summit texts with the Economy Ministry. When his return to Argentina was announced in November 2011, he publicly rejected reports that disagreements at the Cannes summit had caused his departure, saying he had previously communicated his intention to conclude his diplomatic career. ^{3, 1, 4}