Trade differences mark 61st Mercosur summit meeting

The 61st Mercosur Summit of Heads of State in Montevideo, Uruguay, ended Tuesday (Dec. 6). Near the end of his term, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro decided not to attend the meeting and was represented by vice-President Hamilton Mourão and Foreign Minister Carlos França. At the end of the event, Argentina assumed the pro-tempore presidency of the bloc for the coming half-year.

This edition of the summit was marked by trade differences among bloc members, especially after the Uruguayan government expressed its desire to sign free-trade agreements outside of Mercosur. The neighboring country is already holding talks to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a free-trade area encompassing 11 countries in Asia, Oceania, and the Americas.

Montevideo’s move has been criticized by the other partners, who, in a statement issued last week, promised to “adopt eventual measures to protect their interests in the legal and commercial spheres.”

In his speech at the opening of summit gathering, Uruguayan President Luis Lacalle Pou defended the right of the bloc’s nations to sign trade agreements that may be more favorable.

“We want to be open to the world. Logically, if we move as a bloc, we can do better. That’s what we want, but we are not willing to sit still doing nothing. We cannot talk about rupture, but about resolving tensions,” he said.

In response, Argentine President Alberto Fernandez said unilateral action violates internal Mercosur norms. “You say you don’t want a rupture, but in a society when someone doesn’t follow the rules, they are breaking away from the norms. If the rules need to be changed, we should be discussing, but as long as that doesn’t happen, we must respect them,” he argued.

Hamilton Mourão emphasized the need to build consensus and preserve trade within the bloc. He went on to highlight the Brazilian government’s efforts to expand trade agreements in a joint manner.

Paraguayan President Mario Abdo Benítez mentioned asymmetries among the bloc countries, which are disproportionate in terms of geography and size of the economy, and reinforced the adoption of common strategies.

Mercosur is considered the largest regional integration initiative in Latin America, accounting for two-thirds of the region’s territory, population and gross domestic product. Trade between its members totaled $40.6 billion in 2021. Mercosur’s trade exchange with other countries, in 2021, stood at $598 billion.

Source: Agência Brasil

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