Mercosur negotiates Free Trade Agreement with Canada

Mercosur and Canada officially begun negotiations on a Free Trade Agreement this Friday (9 March). Brazilian Ministers Marcos Jorge de Lima (Industry, Foreign Trade and Services) and Aloysio Nunes (Foreign Affairs) have joined other representatives of Mercosur in Asuncion (Paraguay) to attend the launch ceremony. The first round of negotiations is scheduled to take place on the week starting on 19 March in Ottawa.

According to Minister Marcos Jorge, Mercosur and Canada intend to reach a broad agreement that will include topics such as trade in goods and services, government purchases, small and medium enterprises, non-tariff barriers and intellectual property. "Canada is an important and demanding consumer market. In 2017, the trade flows between Brazil and Canada stood at about US$ 4.5 billion, with a surplus for Brazil of just over US$ 950 million. We expect significant growth and diversification of our export agenda with the country, which is currently very concentrated," he said.

The Brazilian share of Canadian imports has oscillated around 0.6% in recent years. Canadian products, in contrast, represent between 1% and 1.5% of Brazilian purchases. According to the Ministry of Industry, Foreign Trade and Services, the bilateral trade agenda is concentrated in inorganic chemicals, sugar and confectionery, precious stones and metals (from the Brazilian side) and fertilisers, nuclear reactors, machinery and apparatus, aircraft and parts thereof (from the Canadian side).