MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Uruguay not willing to close any doors, Lacalle tells Japanese traders

Lacalle is to meet with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida Friday

Uruguayan President Luis Lacalle Pou told a business forum in Tokyo Thursday that his country was not willing to close any doors and was therefore ready to move forward with a bilateral trade agreement regardless of Mercosur's stance.

The South American leader insisted Uruguay was in a “process of opening up to the world” and that its economy was “complementary” to that of Japan.

Uruguay “has many things to offer,” Lacalle said. , stressed the president and focused on “food security”, environmental care, and the development of the technology sector.

Lacalle also said he believed it was a positive thing to take a step further in the commercial relationship between the two countries. He also pointed out that Uruguay and Japan can “contribute to the world's food security.”

Lacalle left for Japan on Tuesday at the invitation of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, with whom he is to meet Friday, marking the 100th anniversary of bilateral ties between the two countries.

The Uruguayan delegation also seeks to increase meat sales to Japan and to advance in a tariff preference treaty, because at present Uruguayan products face a 38.5% tariff, which puts Uruguay at a disadvantage vis-à-vis the Asian country's main suppliers.

While the United States has a bilateral agreement, the other exporters involved (Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and Mexico) have preferential access thanks to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), which allows them to sell beef with a 25% tariff that will drop to 9% in 2033.

Hence, Uruguay's intentions to join the Trans-Pacific Agreement.