France is pushing to delay the conclusion of a free-trade agreement between the European Union and some of the largest South American economies in a move that could derail the deal.
The French government wants to postpone until at least early next year the signing of the agreement with the Mercosur bloc, which includes Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay, according to people familiar with discussions. The agreement was expected to be signed December 20.
Failure to sign the accord by the end of the year – which has been in the works for 25 years – risks collapsing the current work on the deal, said the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
A spokesperson from France’s Foreign Affairs Ministry of foreign affairs said the deal in its current form isn’t acceptable.
The accord is an attempt to create an integrated market of 780 million consumers, providing a boost to the EU’s embattled manufacturing sector as wells as Mercosur’s vast agricultural industry. It would also help both regions diversify away from the US after President Donald Trump imposed worldwide tariffs in a bid to reshape global commerce to benefit the American economy.
The deal would also strengthen the EU’s footprint in a region where China has emerged as a major industrial supplier and the main commodities purchaser.
Several European countries, particularly France and Poland, have long opposed the accord over how it would impact the European agriculture sector. European farmers have feared that an inflow of goods from Latin America, produced at lower standards, would put them at a disadvantage.
The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, recently presented additional guarantees to protect the European agrifood market in an effort to win over the holdouts.
The French government wants stronger safeguards for its agriculture industry, the people said.
by Jorge Valero, Alberto Nardelli & Ania Nussbaum, Bloomberg
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