Obama should not reward Argentina's bad behavior

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, or USTR, recently revoked Argentina’s preferential trade status, citing the country’s refusal to respect the World Bank and pay $300 million in restitution to American investors. As a beneficiary, Argentina exported $477 million of goods to the U.S. duty-free last year.

So egregious is Argentina’s disregard for international law and covenants that it accounts for 78 percent of all cases brought against G-20 countries in the World Bank’s International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes. ICSID has issued awards totaling nearly $1 billion in cases so far against Argentina, which it refuses to respect.