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Brazilian government officials have revealed to CNN Brazil that Mercosur and Canada will resume negotiations for a free trade agreement.
A group made up of Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay has been negotiating with Canada since 2018. Negotiations were progressing well and there was private sector interest in the deal, but the coronavirus pandemic put everything on hold. In the first week of May, a team of Canadian negotiators will travel to Brasilia for the first round of talks in more than three years.
Expectations in President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s executive branch are that a free trade agreement could be concluded as soon as possible, even within a few months. The idea is to create an agreement that would not only eliminate tariffs on industrial and agricultural goods, but also cover areas such as services, investment, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, intellectual property and government procurement.
Brazil exported $5.4 billion to Canada and imported $5.2 billion from the country last year. Major exports are gold, aluminium, semi-finished steel products, sugar, coffee and Embraer aircraft.
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