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Javier Milei has lashed out at one of Argentina’s richest men, as the libertarian president vents frustration at a business elite he has accused of benefiting from decades of protectionism.

Milei on Tuesday criticised Paolo Rocca, billionaire chief executive of Italian-Argentine conglomerate Techint, after local media reported that the group was considering an anti-dumping complaint over its loss of a major pipeline contract to an Indian rival with a more competitive offer. 

Milei called Rocca “Mr Scrap with the pricey pipes” in a post on X, referencing Techint’s bid to manufacture gas pipelines for the Southern Energy SA consortium, which is building Argentina’s first LNG export terminals.

Milei also shared a post by Argentina’s deregulation minister Federico Sturzenegger, who argued Techint’s bid was “indefensible” because it was 40 per cent more expensive than Indian rival Welspun Living Ltd. 

A representative for Tenaris, the Techint subsidiary that made the bid, told the FT the 40 per cent figure was “incorrect”. He said the group was considering filing an anti-dumping complaint because it believed Welspun’s bid relied on the use of Chinese sheet metal that undercuts market prices.

The clash reflects Milei’s tense relationship with many of Argentina’s most powerful business leaders as the libertarian economist’s free-market reforms transform the notoriously rigid economy. 

While companies have cheered the president’s moves to halt runaway inflation and relax strict capital controls, Milei’s removal of tariff barriers and cuts to public works budgets have hurt Argentine manufacturers and the construction industry.

Milei wants the country’s economy to refocus on sectors in which it has a competitive advantage, such as mining, agriculture and tech services. In December he called industrial businesses asking for protection “privileged parasites.”

Argentine manufacturers have argued that they cannot lower costs to compete with foreign companies until the government cuts the heavy tax burden on the formal economy, which is among the highest in Latin America.

The Tenaris representative said its final bid for the pipeline contract “was at a price that implied Tenaris would be working on practically zero margin” but would have allowed it to protect jobs at its plant in Buenos Aires province, which employs 420 people.

Rocca, 73, immigrated from Italy to Argentina in the 1980s and is the country’s second-richest person, according to a 2025 Forbes ranking.

He has repeatedly warned of unfair competition from China’s steel industry and in December said it was strategically important for Argentina to maintain capacity “all along the supply chain” to support its fast-growing energy and mining industries.

Southern Energy, which aims to begin exporting LNG in 2027 once pipelines from a vast Patagonian shale deposit to the Atlantic coast are complete, is a private consortium of Argentine energy groups. 

Pan American Energy is the biggest participant, with a 30 per cent stake in the group, followed by state-controlled energy group YPF, which has a 25 per cent share.

Deregulation minister Sturzenegger said in his post on X on Monday that “more expensive pipes would mean a less profitable project, less employment, and fewer exports”.