US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has been alerted by the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee regarding a tender initiated by President Javier Milei in Argentina. This tender aims to enhance a crucial waterway, but there are concerns that it may be awarded to a consortium purportedly linked to China. US Representative Brian Mast communicated with Rubio on April 23, bringing to attention “a troubling development regarding Chinese malign influence,” as indicated. The winner of the 25-year tender is required to allocate US$10 billion, positioning it as one of Milei’s most significant auctions. Without providing specific details, Mast accused Jan de Nul NV, a Belgian dredger that has maintained the Parana River since the 1990s, of having “deep and ongoing links” with Chinese state-owned companies through its Argentine partner Servimagnus SA.
Servimagnus states that although it has collaborated with CCCC Shanghai Dredging Co previously, it currently has no affiliations with that company or any other Chinese state-run entities. In a statement, Jan de Nul emphasised that its bid clearly indicated a commitment to hiring US technology if it secured the tender, asserting that the allegations of connections to China “are absolutely false and malicious.” Jan de Nul indicates that its primary competitor in the tender, the Belgian dredger DEME Group NV, has incorporated a Chinese supplier for its security cameras. “The public tender process is characterised by transparency, featuring established mechanisms to contest the proceedings.” Jan de Nul stated “To date, and to our knowledge, no participant has filed any of such objections.” DEME and the press office of the US State Department chose not to provide a comment. A representative for Mast did not provide a response to enquiries for comment.
Mast’s letter has emerged following a complaint from the competing consortium, which includes DEME and US investors such as KKR & Co, to the White House last week, alleging that the tender process is biased in favour of Jan de Nul. Both DEME and Jan de Nul have previously collaborated with Chinese firms in various regions. Mast asserted that Beijing is violating a stipulation of the tender established by Milei’s administration, which prohibits state-owned companies from participating in the bidding process – a move largely perceived as an effort to hinder Chinese involvement. “Awarding the contract to Jan de Nul would allow the PRC to circumvent that choice through a private-sector proxy,” he wrote.
The letter illustrates how the tender to deepen the Parana’s shipping lane, the primary route for nearly all of Argentina’s extensive soy and grain exports, has emerged as a central element in the Trump administration’s strategy to regain US influence in Latin America following years of Chinese expansion. Highlighting Argentina’s increasing significance under Milei as a “strong ally” of the US, Mast stated that if the La Libertad Avanza leader was “made fully aware of the evidence of the PRC’s extensive connections to Jan de Nul, I am confident he will take appropriate action.”