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.
Uruguay is experiencing, in recent months, a marked drop in investment and the generation of employment. Uruguayan Economy Minister Danilo Astori admitted Wednesday the fall of public accounts, with an annualized fiscal deficit in April that was 4.8% of GDP, and opted to provide greater incentives to investors and entrepreneurs. The Uruguayan press accuses the government of betting on the hope that the results will begin to be felt in the second half of the year, as it was heard a while ago in Argentina under the administration of President Mauricio Macri.
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”.
Argentina will give its auto exporters a larger tax rebate to help stimulate the flagging local sector that has been hit hard by a consumption slump and economic crisis in Latin America’s No. 3 economy.
The Uruguayan capital is the most expensive and the best to live in the region. At least that's what the studies of The Economist, which positioned Montevideo behind Mexico City in terms of cost, and the consultancy Mercer, which places the capital at the top of Latin American quality of life ranking, revealed in publications made this month. El País (Madrid) explains that Montevideo has a “crazy decadent charm”. However, why does this phenomenon occur?
Farmers in Brazil and Argentina are concerned about Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro's agreement to import 750,000 tons of wheat from the United States and other countries outside the Mercosur trade bloc without the 10% tariff that is usually required for such purchases.
Brazilian new passports will no longer have the symbol of Mercosur as currently they do together with those from the other member states, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay. The announcement was made by cabinet chief Onyx Lorenzoni, during a press conference in which he anticipated the targets for the first hundred days of president Jair Bolsonaro's administration.
Intense rainfall in northeast Argentina and neighbouring areas in Mercosur members has caused devastating floods, amplifying the economic burdens of Argentina's recession. Over 5,000 people have evacuated the region, and millions of hectares of crops have been sent underwater.
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.
Pakistan has officially requested to resume negotiations with Mercosur for a free trade agreement, with discussions expected to begin in early 2019. Islamabad believes it is an opportunity to bridge the trade deficit with countries of the South American bloc.