News of free trade

Without environmental guarantees, EU-Mercosur trade deal faces uncertain future

23-11-2020 15:51 Historic free-trade agreement between the European Union and the Mercosur regional bloc, announced more than a year ago after more than two decades of negotiations, stuck in limbo due to environmental concerns.

EU-MERCOSUR DEAL

Brazil rejects deforestation concerns on EU-Mercosur deal

23-09-2020 16:12 Brazil hits back at European reluctance to finalise EU-Mercosur trade deal, saying a French report on environmental concerns is motivated by "protectionist interests."

MERCOSUR BLOC

Lacalle Pou says EU-Mercosur deal 'advances' but not at 'expected speed'

03-09-2020 01:05 Uruguayan leader’s comments just the latest in a series indicating that momentum for the accord has slowed.

EU-MERCOSUR TRADE DEAL

Merkel expresses 'significant doubts' over EU-Mercosur trade pact

21-08-2020 14:12 German chancellor expresses "significant doubts" over landmark EU-Mercosur free trade deal, citing concerns over the devastating deforestation of the Amazon rainforest.

EU-MERCOSUR TALKS

EU watchdog opens probe into Mercosur trade deal

10-07-2020 12:16 EU Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly confirms investigation will be opened into historic trade deal with Mercosur, after environmental and rights groups complained that the deal does not respect the EU’s legal obligations.

FUTURE OF MERCOSUR?

EU 'welcomes' Argentina's commitment to Mercosur free-trade deal

28-04-2020 23:58 European Union pleased that Argentina remains engaged in talks over long-awaited free-trade deal, despite decision to withdraw from all future Mercosur trade talks.

MERCOSUR TRADE BLOC

Opposition slams government's decision to pull out of Mercosur trade talks

26-04-2020 09:34 Citing economic policy priorities and the effects of the Covid-19 crisis, President Alberto Fernandez’s administration has withdrawn from ongoing and future talks involving the Mercosur trade bloc.

TRADE WAR

French wine exports to US plunge in wake of Trump tariffs

07-02-2020 12:59 US President Donald Trump imposed punitives tariffs on Europe agriculture as a result the litigation between the aeronautic giants Boeing and Airbus. Since then, French wine imports into the US have been cut almost by half among others European delicacies.

MERCOSUR SUMMIT

Tensions loom large at Macri's final Mercosur summit

05-12-2019 18:14 Macri bids farewell to Mercosur at summit in Brazil, with regional bloc reeling from US steel and aluminum tariffs and tensions between Bolsonaro and Alberto Fernández.

FUTURE OF MERCOSUR?

Changing Mercosur bloc meets in Brazil after US tariffs blow

05-12-2019 07:26 Focus of bloc's 55th summit – the last for President Mauricio Macri – looked set to be the arrival of Alberto Fernández in office. The Mercosur now has more immediate concerns: Donald Trump.

EU-MERCOSUR TRADE DEAL

Austria rejects EU-Mercosur trade deal over Amazon fires

19-09-2019 09:49 Key committee in Austrian Parliament rejects draft free-trade agreement between EU and Mercosur over concerns about fires in the Amazon.

'Braxit'?

A Latin American Brexit? Analysing Brazil’s threat on Mercosur

16-09-2019 07:30 Jair Bolsonaro has said Brazil could leave Mercosur if Argentina, the second-largest economy in the customs union, pivots to the left after presidential elections in October. But how feasible is such a break?

BILATERAL RELATIONS

Brazil foreign minister views Alberto Fernández as a threat to Mercosur

03-09-2019 16:16 “It would be very frustrating, just as Mercosur enjoys its best moment in 30 years, to have an Argentine government that might bring setbacks,” says Foreign Minister Ernesto Araujo.

MERCOSUR

Norway says timing of EFTA-Mercosur pact 'awful'

27-08-2019 12:45 Norway, which is part of European Free Trade Agreement (EFTA) grouping four non-EU members, on Tuesday regretted the "awful timing" of a trade pact with Mercosur, as fires rage in the Amazon.

TRADE DEALS

Mercosur reaches EFTA trade deal with European countries

23-08-2019 22:13 The agreement with the European Free Trade Association formed by Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein, comes two months after Mercosur sealed a landmark trade deal with the European Union.

AMAZON IN FLAMES

Ireland may withold EU-Mercosur deal support over Amazon fires

23-08-2019 14:03 "There is no way that Ireland will vote for the EU-Mercosur Free Trade Agreement if Brazil does not honour its environmental commitments," says Prime Minister Leo Varadkar

OPINION

Leonid Bershidsky: The EU can push Bolsonaro to save the Amazon

23-08-2019 13:59 It’s appropriate for Macron, Merkel and other European leaders to reconsider the Mercosur trade agreement in response to Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro’s behaviour.

DEAL IN DOUBT

Macron: France won't back EU-Mercosur deal over Bolsonaro's climate 'lies'

23-08-2019 10:19 Outraged over the Amazon fires, French president brands Brazilian counterpart a liar and threatens to block EU-Mercosur trade deal "under these conditions."

TRADE DEALS

Trump says US to begin working on free-trade deal with Brazil

30-07-2019 15:46 “We’re going to work on a free-trade agreement with Brazil,” US president tells reporters in Washington

Mercosur Summit

Mercosur reborn with liberal orientation

16-07-2019 21:27 The current liberal economic consensus between Brazil and Argentina is ushering in a new era of trade for the South American trade bloc.

FREE-TRADE DEAL

EU slams 'misinformation' about Mercosur trade deal

15-07-2019 16:23 Accord has raised alarm in some European countries that the continent will be flooded with beef and other agricultural imports, subjecting domestic farmers to unfair competition and consumers to unsafe food.

BLOOMBERG

Latin America and free trade score a win with EU-Mercosur deal

09-07-2019 15:22 Who knew that even as China and the United States played chicken with international trade, 31 nations with a tenth of world population and a fourth of its wealth would agree to abide by global rules and swap goods freely across the Atlantic?

by Mac Margolis

BLOOMBERG

Mercosur eyes trade deal with United States after securing EU accord

04-07-2019 14:12 President Mauricio Macri and Foreign Minister Jorge Faurie reveal that Argentina and Brazil, the two largest members of the Mercosur, are talking about a potential trade deal with the world’s largest consumer market.

DEAL OR NO DEAL?

EU tells Macri, Bolsonaro: There's still work left to do on Mercosur trade deal

07-06-2019 10:19 EU officials brush off suggestions from presidents of Argentina and Brazil that a sweeping free-trade deal with the European bloc is close to being signed.

BILATERAL RELATIONS

Macri, Bolsonaro: Signing of EU-Mercosur free-trade deal is 'imminent'

06-06-2019 15:31 Controversial Brazilian leader visits Argentina for the first time as president, as protesters take to streets. Talks with President Macri focus on Mercosur, boosting respective economies and Venezuela.