Mercosur announced this Saturday (20), during the Foz do Iguaçu (PR) summit, that it would begin negotiations for a preferential trade agreement with Vietnam. The move is part of the South American bloc’s strategy to expand and diversify its trade partnerships.
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) said Mercosur would continue to work with other partners in the drawn-out negotiations with the European Union, which saw the signing of the free trade agreement postponed until next year.
“This semester we began discussions on expanding the agreement with India. We resumed negotiations with Canada and advanced in negotiations with the United Arab Emirates. We adopted frameworks to negotiate a strategic partnership with Japan and a tariff preference agreement with Vietnam,” Lula said.
“In the region, we hope to make rapid progress in negotiating an agreement with Panama. We still need to update agreements with other South American countries, such as Colombia and Ecuador. Intraregional trade in South America is well below its potential,” he added.
To South American leaders, Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira presented the results of the Brazilian presidency’s work to open new negotiating fronts, highlighting Vietnam as an important economic partner for Mercosur.
“At this summit, we signed a joint declaration to launch negotiations on a preferential trade agreement with Vietnam, which will increase Mercosur’s access to this important Southeast Asian economy,” he said.
THE Leaf A Brazilian government aide said, on condition of anonymity, that a possible flood of Asian products in a future deal with Vietnam is worrying and, therefore, the idea is to sign a preferential trade agreement with the country, instead of a free trade agreement.
The Brazilian chancellor also said that Mercosur had started negotiations to expand the preferential trade agreement with India and was also seeking to advance dialogue with Japan.
“I am happy to celebrate the adoption of the text of the strategic partnership framework between Mercosur and Japan, which opens space for our teams to discuss a future free trade agreement,” Vieira said.
He also said the Brazilian presidency called for efforts to conclude negotiations on the Mercosur-UAE agreement, which were launched in 2024. “We remain committed to concluding a final package as soon as possible,” he said.
The minister also highlighted the relaunch of negotiations with Canada. According to him, both sides expect the negotiations to end in 2026. He also discussed the signing of the agreement with Efta (European Free Trade Association), a bloc formed by Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein, and mentioned the expectations surrounding the agreement with the European Union.
“We hope to be able to sign the agreement with the European Union after more than two decades of negotiations. With both (EFTA and the European Union), we hope not only to have easier access to the vast European market, but also to integrate our companies into European value chains and attract significant investment flows from here to the continent,” he said.
The Foz do Iguaçu summit, which ends Brazil’s rotating presidency of the bloc, brought together the presidents of Argentina, Javier Milei, Paraguay, Santiago Peña, and Uruguay, Yamandú Orsi.
Freshly inaugurated, Bolivian President Rodrigo Paz did not attend the event and was represented by Foreign Minister Fernando Aramayo Carrasco. On the other hand, the President of Panama, José Raúl Mulino, also participated – the country formalized its entry as an associate member of the South American bloc at the end of 2024.
About The Author
