Lithium is an indispensable mineral for the upcoming transition to emission-free transportation, which is facilitated by the increased adoption of electric vehicles (EVs). Consequently, the enactment of the governmental policies is creating a tug of war for the critical raw material and shifting its focus toward the Argentine lithium mining industry. Due to the industry’s huge production potential and strategic importance in the future, this paper aims to comparatively evaluate both nations’ involvement in Argentina by considering the benefits to its lithium industry and national economy.

Both qualitative and quantitative data were obtained from governmental, intergovernmental, and newspaper agencies, corporate reports, and an interview with an industry participant. Due to the extensive scope of the subject, the application of a CRAAP test ensured the delivery of needed information only. The use of a forecasting approach helped determine the economic contributions to the lithium mining industry and Argentina’s national economy. All the data was integrated into an Evaluation Matrix comprised of four main evaluation categories to find out the most suitable partner for Argentina.

The conducted evaluation from this paper showed that the discussion depends on multiple factors and perspectives. The USA got the upper hand on China by a very slim margin. The US gains its advantage over China with respect to its lithium mining projects’ potential and its excessive influence in intergovernmental financing institutions, with greater likelihood to enable the growth of the lithium mining industry and financing support to Argentina. However, in terms of trade interdependence and Argentina’s further EV supply chain integration, China demonstrates a stronger trade relationship and more eagerness to help Argentina onshoring components of the supply chain, eventually enabling Argentina to build up a new industry on their own soil. Therefore, the discussion is still wide open and the topic shall entail future research with the inclusion of other key criteria (e.g. environmental, social), which were not integrated into this paper’s Evaluation Matrix. The topic is of utter importance since Argentina’s lithium mining industry is positioned to be the enabler of many governments’ green agenda, which fuel the demand and tug of war for the critical mineral of interest: Lithium.