EU and Mercosur to exchange trade offers

Europe and South America hope to revive stalled free-trade talks in early April with formal offers on how far they are willing to open up their economies to foreign goods, Argentina’s trade minister said.

After more than a decade of leftist rule in Argentina, the new pro-business government in Buenos Aires offers the Mercosur trade bloc led by Brazil its best chance in years to complete a deal that has faced multiple setbacks since its launch in 1999.

“Argentina is ready to move forward,” Miguel Braun told Reuters during a visit to Brussels to meet EU trade officials to discuss trade talks. “For Mercosur, this is a priority.” Attempts to relaunch the trade talks, most recently at an EU-Latin American summit in Santiago in 2013, failed because of Argentine policies to protect local industry, diplomats say.

Brazil and its other Mercosur partners, Paraguay and Uruguay, were unwilling to do a trade deal without Buenos Aires, despite the urging of Brazilian business.

Argentina is Brazil’s closest partner, but until the November election of Argentine President Mauricio Macri, it was one of the most protectionist members of the Group of 20 leading economies.

The so-called ‘exchange of offers’ would set out the duty-free access each side is willing to consider and then allow negotiators to draw up a trade deal designed to encompass 750 million people and $130 billion in annual trade.