[ad_1]
Faced with Argentina’s announcement that it will abandon negotiations on Mercosur agreements, the Brazilian government wants to suggest changes in the bloc’s operating rules to make trade agreements possible without the participation of the neighboring country.
Brazilian negotiators argue that the rules in force today can hinder the progress of future agreements if there is no support from the Argentine government. The idea, according to a report. Sheet, is to remove these blocks.
The concern concerns not only future initiatives, but also dialogues that have already formally started in recent years with countries such as Canada, South Korea, Lebanon and Singapore.
Created in 1991, Mercosur has founding members Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay. Venezuela joined the bloc in 2012, but has been suspended since 2016.
On Friday (24), Argentina announced that it would stop participating in the negotiations of the Mercosur trade agreements, with the exception of the two most important ones in progress, with the European Union and the European Free Trade Association (Efta).
The neighboring country said the decision was due to the fact that the priority now is to fight the coronavirus and the internal economic emergencies caused by the pandemic. In the statement, he said that “it will not be an obstacle for other countries to continue with their different negotiation processes.”
The Brazilian government saw the Argentine declaration as positive because it makes it clear that they want to stay out of the process of opening the bloc, facilitating the action of the other components. Among negotiators, the assessment is that the message was a gift given to the other members, who are now free to reformat the bloc without further political tension.
In another line of analysis, government officials say that Argentina’s “elegant exit” would be a mixed-up excuse because the country has no consensus in the negotiations and fears the rapprochement between Brazil and the United States.
In a resolution issued in 2000, the founding countries of Mercosur signed a commitment to negotiate trade and tariff agreements always jointly. This, therefore, would be the main obstacle to the progress of the works from now on.
The Brazilian government is waiting for a clearer definition of what Argentina will do to propose the changes, but the idea is to change the rules to eliminate the country from the new negotiations and create protection mechanisms for the rest of the group.
In the case of a new trade agreement, for example, the Argentine economy would be totally segregated from the signed terms. Rules would be imposed to prevent the neighboring country from benefiting from free trade or more favorable tariffs.
The assessment among the members of the government is that the change would not mean the “beginning of the end” for Mercosur. In the new rules, Brazil wants there to be a clause so that Argentina can return to negotiations when there is a change in the guidelines of the government or foreign policy.
Argentine President Alberto Fernández took office at the end of last year. The Argentine presidential campaign was marked by barbaric exchanges between him and President Jair Bolsonaro.
The Brazilian president made no secret that he would have preferred to see former president Mauricio Macri re-elected and stated more than once that the return of Peronism to power in Argentina could generate a “new Venezuela” on the South American continent.
For his part, Fernández defended the freedom of former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva during the campaign and, on the day of his electoral victory, posed for the photos by making an “L” with his hands, a symbol of the PT.
After the campaign, however, both governments began to show signs that they intend to work to improve the relationship between the two countries.
For members of the Brazilian government, the Argentines indicate that, at least in the current administration, they will follow a path of greater closure and disintegration of the economy.
Argentina is currently the third largest trading partner in Brazil, behind China and the United States. According to data from the Ministry of Economy, the trade flow between the two countries totaled US $ 4.4 billion (R $ 23.9 billion) in the first quarter of this year, but the balance of the balance was negative for Brazil at US $ 69 million ( R $ 374 million).
Formally, the Ministry of Foreign Relations reported that the neighboring country’s decision to suspend negotiations gives transparency to the processes and will facilitate the search for better results for all Mercosur members who are interested in opening trade with the world.
“The Brazilian government will continue, along with Paraguay and Uruguay, in pursuit of the goal of free trade and free trade with other countries,” he said in a note.
