Argentine government announces modest changes to export tax scheme

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (CNN) - The Argentine government announced Thursday it is changing the way it taxes exports of soy products, a move that appeared to be an attempt to mollify farmers who have protested the taxes for more than two months.

But the changes appear unlikely to achieve that end. Under the new system, small soy producers would get rebates and the tax rate would be cut when soy prices exceed $600 per metric ton, a price far above the $461 per ton that soy closed at Thursday, according to the Argentine Agriculture Secretariat.

In fact, many farmers want the export taxes rolled back to what they were on March 11, the day the tax was instituted by President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner. She contended that the tax on high-priced grains is a way to increase seniors' pensions and help for the poor.