The US Export-Import Bank plans to provide up to $7 billion for critical-minerals and energy projects in Argentina, according to a document seen by Reuters. The financing is expected to be part of a package announced in New York on Wednesday during the United Nations General Assembly, as the United States seeks greater access to energy and critical minerals in the Western Hemisphere. The funds would allow companies in Argentina to obtain loans for equipment from US manufacturers and other uses over the next two years. Under Argentine President Javier Milei, a close ally of US President Donald Trump, bilateral ties have strengthened through closer economic-policy alignment, US support for Milei's market-oriented reforms and a preferential trade and investment agreement announced in February. That agreement includes critical-minerals cooperation but has not yet been ratified by Argentina's Congress. Argentina holds substantial lithium, shale oil and other commodity deposits, while Argentina, Chile and Bolivia make up the lithium triangle, a region containing the world's largest supplies of lithium used in electronics, electric vehicles and other technologies. Rio Tinto, BHP and Chevron are among the major commodity companies operating in the country. Milei's government is also promoting RIGI, an incentive regime for large investments, to attract foreign capital to energy, mining and infrastructure. Eni and state-run YPF submitted a joint RIGI application last month for a $51 billion liquefied natural gas project. Argentina's mining minister, Luis Lucero, said the country could export 580,000 metric tons of lithium and 1,641,000 metric tons of copper annually by 2036, five times higher than 2025 levels.