Argentina grain tax bill clears lower house

0 Comments | AFP, July, 2008

BUENOS AIRES (AFP) — A controversial grain tax bill cleared the Chamber of Deputies Saturday by a 129-122 vote, giving a first-round win to President Cristina Kirchner in her struggle to defuse a months-long farmers' strike.

The bill raising grain export tariffs from 35 to 47 percent, on a sliding scale, threatens to rekindle a 100-day export strike by farmers and truckers that emptied store shelves of staples, in Kirchner's first major crisis after 18 months in office.

"This is the first round. The second one will take place in the Senate next week," farm sector leader Eduardo Buzzi told reporters after the vote, which followed a 17-hour debate by lawmakers.

Depite losing the vote, Buzzi was pleased socialdemocrats and other leftist political groups had...