The Lower House of Bolivia's Plurinational Legislative Assembly (ALP) Thursday failed to approve the country's accession to the Southern Common Market (Mercosur) after Speaker Israel Huaytari adjourned the session during which the matter was to be debated. Lawmakers loyal to former President Evo Morales are said to oppose the Protocol of Accession of the Plurinational State of Bolivia to Mercosur initiative.
Trade between China and Latin American countries surpassed US$ 480 billion in 2023, compared to a mere US$ 14 billion back in 2000, based on data from the Customs Administration of the People’s Republic of China (AGA) and the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, ECLAC.
Brazilian authorities announced this week that new measures will be in force concerning the import of steel products. In a move to discourage such practices, goods exceeding the quota of 11 items will be charged higher taxes, Agencia Brasil reported. In other words, if the maximum volume is exceeded, the import duty, currently ranging between 9% and 14.4%, will reach 25%, the Chamber of Foreign Commerce explained. The initiative seeks to prevent unfair competition with domestic steel.
In a gathering of prominent figures from the political and business spheres, Uruguayan President Luis Lacalle Pou emphasized the importance of a strong state to ensure individual freedom during the “freedom dinner” organized by Fundación Libertad in Buenos Aires. The event, attended by former Argentine President Mauricio Macri, current Argentine President Javier Milei, and other distinguished guests, provided a platform for discussions on liberty, democracy, and economic freedom.
French President Emmanuel Macron told a business forum in São Paulo that the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the South American Common Market (Mercosur) and the European Union (EU) needed to be ”renegotiated from scratch,” Agencia Brasil reported.
Presidents Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Emmanuel Macron launched Tuesday in Belém a € 1 billion investment bioeconomy program for the Brazilian Legal Amazon as well as for the part of the Amazon within French Guiana to raise funds through public and private investments over the next four years, Agencia Brasil reported.
Former Brazilian Supreme Federal Court (STF) Chief Justice Rosa Weber has accepted President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's proposal to become a member of Mercosur's Asunción-based Review Court which handles disputes among member countries, Agencia Brasil reported.
Argentine Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Worship minister, Diana Mondino said that three are the main foreign policy objectives of the government of president Javier Milei, international trade and treaties, regional integration and improving logistic costs and returning Argentina to a position of international relevance and prestige, a reliable country with a respected loud voice worldwide, in a context of clear and fair rules of the game so promote corporations from the private sector.
Brazil's foreign trade in goods, some US$ 640bn annually is done mostly in US dollars, some 95%, but there are some inroads to other currencies such as the Euro and its own Brazilian Reais. These figure come from an annual report on trade operations’ currency statements compiled by Brazil’s Foreign Trade Secretariat of the Ministry of Development, Industry, Trade, and Services (Secex-MDIC), and revealed last week.
The South American Common Market (Mercosur) will start negotiating a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Japan next month, Paraguay's Foreign Minister Rubén Ramírez Lezcano acknowledged in an interview with the Nikkei economic newspaper. Paraguay currently holds the rotating presidency of the regional bloc.