Brazil & Southern Cone - September 2019

Another Mercosur deal: On 23 August, Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro celebrated the conclusion of negotiations begun in 2017, sealing a free trade deal between the Southern Common Market (Mercosur) trade bloc, for which Brazil currently holds the pro-tempore presidency, and the European Free Trade Association (Efta), made up of Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland. The Brazilian government hopes that, once ratified, the deal will increase national GDP by US$5.2bn in 15 years. This agreement with Efta follows the conclusion of talks resulting in a trade deal between Mercosur and the European Union (EU) earlier in June. However, neither of these agreements are a done deal. There is resistance to their ratification from some European countries (particularly France in the EU and Switzerland in Efta) amid concerns over Brazil’s environmental commitments, and pushback from parts of the European agricultural sector.

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