The U.S. Department of State announced on Wednesday, 23 September 2026, that the United States and Argentina launched the Andes-Atlantic Corridor, a joint initiative to strengthen and modernize infrastructure connecting Argentina’s critical-mineral-rich northwest and Vaca Muerta energy basin to Atlantic ports and Western markets through rail, pipeline, port, power, and digital infrastructure, according to the State Department fact sheet opened for this pack. Same-day Associated Press and Reuters reporting described the financing piece as U.S. Export-Import Bank support of up to $7 billion through 2027 for Argentine energy, mining, and infrastructure projects that buy American equipment and hire U.S. firms.
The State fact sheet calls the Corridor the first Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment Corridor in the Western Hemisphere. It states U.S. government financing agencies, including the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) and the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), can play a role in financing high-impact Corridor projects alongside the private sector. EXIM and Argentina signed the U.S.-Argentina Build the Future Framework, which the fact sheet says will expand economic cooperation and provide financing of up to $7 billion by 2027 for projects that advance infrastructure development and productive capacity.
Named actors in opened coverage: U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau and Argentine Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno spoke on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, AP reported. The State fact sheet lists next steps including a U.S. delegation from State, DFC, and EXIM to Buenos Aires, Jujuy, and Salta in October 2026, and a later October travel by Landau to Argentina.
Projects the fact sheet places in the Corridor’s enabling stack (several predate the 23 September launch): Argentina LNG with an EXIM non-binding indicative term sheet up to $6 billion for a YPF-led integrated LNG project with ENI and XRG; an estimated $800 million AMBA 1 high-voltage transmission concession; a 25-year Hidrovía Waterway concession awarded in June 2026; August 2026 tenders for 50-year freight-rail concessions on the Belgrano, San Martín, and Urquiza lines; and an upcoming ARSAT fiber-optic modernization concession. Those items are State-sheet colour on the Corridor’s pipeline — the day-of instrument is the Corridor launch plus the EXIM Build the Future Framework.
What to watch: whether EXIM moves from framework and indicative term sheets to signed loan commitments; October State/DFC/EXIM transaction trip outcomes; Argentine congressional handling of related bilateral trade-and-investment measures; and which rail, pipeline, and port packages reach financial close first.
Floor: State.gov fact sheet 23 Sep 2026 — U.S. + Argentina launch Andes-Atlantic Corridor (PGII, first in Western Hemisphere); EXIM–Argentina Build the Future Framework up to $7bn financing by 2027; rail/pipeline/port/power/digital links from northwest minerals + Vaca Muerta to Atlantic ports. AP/Reuters same-day on EXIM $7bn framing. Framework/launch ≠ disbursed project loans.