Regional surroundings a priority, Bolsonaro says at Mercosur summit
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said Brazil has worked so that Mercosur can play “an important role in tackling the current external impacts.” The leader spoke in a video sent to the 60th Mercosur summit of heads of state, which took place in Paraguay, Thursday (Jul 21).
Talking about the surge in global inflation stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Bolsonaro said the world is facing “a challenging moment” and therefore “needs more trade and investment.”
“As a result, we worked hard over the last half-year to finalize a modern agreement with Singapore,” he said, referring to one of the initiatives unveiled during the summit: the conclusion of talks on a free-trade deal between Mercosur member nations and Singapore, in Southeast Asia.
Brazil also supported another initiatives approved Wednesday (20), at the ordinary meeting of the Mercosur Council, held before the summit: an agreement to slash the Common External Tariff by ten percent. With a few agreed-upon exceptions, the tax is levied on goods imported from other nations outside the South American bloc and varies from product to product.
“Brazil has worked so that Mercosur plays an important role in tackling current external impacts. Therefore, we advocate the reduction of the Common External Tariff, which will represent an important contribution to the fight against [regional] inflation,” Bolsonaro said, before arguing Brazil has given priority to negotiations with major trade partners in Mercosur and the region.
“Our regional surroundings are a priority, even more so in the current scenario. We need to continue expanding our trade and investment flows in Latin America and the Caribbean, strengthening regional value chains and reducing our external vulnerabilities to crises,” said the president, who ended the video by congratulating Paraguay on the results achieved during the six months the country held the rotating presidency of the South American bloc—a position to be occupied by Uruguay for the next six months.
