Japan and Mercosur member countries (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay) sealed this Sunday an agreement to strengthen their relations through a new agreement Strategic partnership frameworkat the Union’s last bi-annual summit in Brazil.
The agreement, expressed in a joint declaration, notes the willingness of both actors to “advance discussions” with a view to closer cooperationemphasizing “friendly relations” and a “mutual commitment to an open market economy.” The governments emphasized that there was “ample potential to deepen and diversify economic relations.”
The official document highlights that the agendas will include key topics such as: Trade, investment, supply chain resilience and energy transitionamong other areas of cooperation.
In addition to the rapprochement with Japan, during the meeting in Foz do Iguazú, Mercosur began negotiations to conclude a preferential tariff agreement with Vietnam, aimed at reducing tariffs, removing obstacles and facilitating the flow of trade across borders.
Taking over the bloc’s temporary presidency, the Paraguayan government announced the aim of accelerating the conclusion of advanced agreements – including those negotiated with the United Arab Emirates and Canada – and dialogue with countries such as the United Arab Emirates. B. continue Japan, United Kingdom, Indonesia and Malaysia. The priorities also include expanding the preferential tariff agreement signed with India.
In addition, the President of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silvaassured this Saturday during the summit that the South American bloc will continue to seek new trade agreements as long as the “political will” of the European Union (EU) to conclude the upcoming agreement between the two regions continues to be lacking.
“European leaders have asked us for more time to discuss additional measures. Yesterday they said they expected to sign the agreement in mid-January. Without political will, it will not be possible to bring 26 years of negotiations to a conclusionLula remarked.
The President recalled that he organized the Mercosur summit on December 20 in Foz de Iguazú at the express request of the European authorities, who had initially planned to conclude the agreement on that day. However, he explained that in addition to France’s historic reticence, a new obstacle has emerged in recent days, namely Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who is facing pressure from her country’s farmers.
Lula reiterated that Meloni had personally told him that it was not possible for him to support the agreement in the current context, but he trusts that this issue can be resolved soon. The Brazilian president believed that France alone could not prevent the signing of the treaty if Italy added its support. “I hope that the agreement will be signed in Paraguay as soon as possible. We will work to ensure that this happens for the good of our association and for the good of multilateralism,” he said.
The head of state indicated that Mercosur was ready to sign and even accepted the quotas and protection mechanisms imposed by the EU on agricultural products, but warned that the bloc retained the right to respond reciprocally if necessary.
Lula stressed the importance of moving forward with the agreement because “an important message in defense of multilateralism“, but admitted that Europe had not yet made a final decision.
Given this uncertainty scenario and the recent increase in international protectionism, the Brazilian leader stressed that Mercosur is accelerating negotiations with other markets. “As doors close in some places, they open in others. The world is looking for Mercosur. “We will look for associations that are crucial to the resilience of our economies,” he assured.
The President cited progress in negotiations with the United Arab Emirates and Canada as well as Paraguay as priorities, as well as the push to expand trade relations with India and the opening of tariff preferences with Vietnam.
Lula highlighted the interest of several countries in signing agreements with Mercosur and expressed his desire to see several international agreements concluded in the next six months. “The world is longing for agreements with Mercosur. I hope that we have good international agreements for six months,” Lula stressed before handing over the temporary presidency of Mercosur to Paraguay for the first half of 2026.
(With information from EFE)
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