“Now I only have to recover the Malvinas Islands” said Argentine foreign minister Jorge Faurie, following the trade and association agreement reached on Friday in Brussels between Mercosur and the European Union.
The European Union and Mercosur reached on Friday a political agreement for an ambitious, balanced and comprehensive trade agreement. The EU is the first major partner to strike a trade pact with Mercosur, a bloc comprising Argentina, Brazil Paraguay and Uruguay.
Brazil and Argentina have started discussing a reduction in the common external tariff (TEC) of the Mercosur trade block, sources in both governments revealed on Wednesday, as their market-friendly presidents look to boost economic growth.
The European Union and Mercosur will likely close a trade agreement in the near future, Brazil’s Foreign Trade Secretary Lucas Ferraz said in an interview with Bloomberg. “We’ve never been so close,” Ferraz said adding, “we’ve advanced more in four months than in 20 years”.
Brazil’s president Jair Bolsonaro and Argentina’s president Mauricio Macri said they agreed to continue integrating their economies (number one and two in South America), as strategic partners, by “perfecting” the Mercosur trade block and pressing ahead with negotiations that are already underway, such as the ongoing free trade and cooperation agreement with the European Union.
Brazil’s outgoing Agriculture Minister Blairo Maggi said that Mercosur is ready to close a trade agreement with the European Union but it is being held up because the Europeans do not want to close a deal.
Mercosur and the European Union will be holding a round of technical talks this week in Montevideo, starting on Monday, with the purpose of building a strong consensus that could anticipate an agreement sometime next year.
Brazil's president-elect Jair Bolsonaro said “prudence” was necessary before signing any trade agreement with other nations, in reference to the ongoing negotiations between Mercosur and the European Union.
Argentine Production and Labour Minister Dante Sica Monday said in Madrid he was confident the European Union and the South American Mercosur trade bloc would reach an agreement as soon as possible, hopefully by the G-20 Summit in Buenos Aires in late November.
Brazil's Foreign Minister Aloysio Nunes said he expects more movement from the European Union as long running talks on a free trade deal with his South American bloc Mercosur head into the home stretch.