- EFE and AFP
- SÃO PAULO, BRAZIL
Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira said in an interview published Sunday in the Folha de S. Paulo newspaper that a free trade deal between Uruguay and China would destroy Mercosur because it contradicts the bloc’s integration policies.
Vieira suggested that the Uruguayan government announced in July that it had taken the first steps to negotiate a bilateral agreement with the Asian giant, sparking disagreements with Mercosur partners.
“If there is any negotiation outside the common external tariff, it destroys the tariff. “It is in no one’s interest to destroy Mercosur.”
“Otherwise, if you negotiate lower rates, what is cheaper in one country will circulate in another because of the free movement of (goods),” said the foreign minister, who opposed the bloc’s proposals for flexibility .
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will visit Uruguay on Wednesday as part of his first international trip, which began with his visit to Argentina, which hosted the Seventh Summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) on Sunday. will be held on Tuesday instead. ).
Founded in 1991, the bloc is experiencing a crisis between tensions between partners and the resilience initiatives that Bolsonaro supports.
“Mercosur is not what it was when it was founded. “We need to look at each individual’s needs and current asymmetries and see if a compromise can be made,” the Brazilian minister told Folha.
exceptions There were a few exceptions to the Common External Tariff (AEC) mentioned by Vieira, as they were applied unilaterally by Argentina and Brazil.
“We must talk with Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay about the present and future of Mercosur (…) and make the necessary adjustments in dialogue with the businessmen of our countries,” Vieira told Argentina’s Telam news agency on Saturday.
The sharp differences within the bloc became apparent at the last Mercosur summit in Montevideo in December.
Under some interpretations that Uruguay does not share, Mercosur rules prohibit its members from negotiating trade agreements alone and mandate that all negotiations be discussed and carried out by the bloc as a whole.
The partners specifically accused the Uruguayan government of starting negotiations with China without its consent, as required by the group’s regulations.
On the other hand, Vieira also pointed to the agreement that Mercosur has been negotiating with the European Union for more than 20 years: “We carry out internal analyzes with Mercosur countries (…) and then we resume talks with EU countries. European. If the analysis is positive, we will continue.”
Lula said the deal is not valid and he hopes to discuss a version that respects Brazil’s wishes and does not force the country to abandon reindustrialisation.
Source: Ultimahora
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Karen Clayton is a seasoned journalist and author at The Nation Update, with a focus on world news and current events. She has a background in international relations, which gives her a deep understanding of the political, economic and social factors that shape the global landscape. She writes about a wide range of topics, including conflicts, political upheavals, and economic trends, as well as humanitarian crisis and human rights issues.
