Uruguay advances in trade agreement negotiations with China

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – President Luis Lacalle Pou received representatives of the government coalition at the Executive Tower, the seat of government: Partido Nacional (PN-center-right), Partido Colorado (PC-center-right), Cabildo Abierto (CA-right), Partido Independiente (PI-center-left) and Partido de la Gente (PG-right); as well as the rest, Partido Ecologista Radical Intransigente (Peri-centro) and the main opposition party, Frente Amplio (FA-left).

“It should be ready before the end of the year. There is progress and notifications to the different MERCOSUR governments,” Guido Manini Rio said, member of the Cabildo Abierto party.

China is Uruguay’s main trading partner and the latest report by the Uruguayan Exporters Union states that the Asian giant is the main destination for Uruguayan exports, accounting for 26.21% of the total.

“The president and the national government have expressed Uruguay’s opening policy and the need to reach trade agreements to create opportunities for the country’s progress,” the document underlines.

The Uruguayan Presidency further recalls in the communiqué that, during the summit of Heads of State of the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR) on July 8, Lacalle Pou reaffirmed his intention that Uruguay would negotiate on its own with other countries, despite resistance from other bloc members, mainly Argentina.

The plan to relax MERCOSUR rules in order to allow extra-bloc agreements has been proposed by Uruguay for several months now and has led to disagreements between Lacalle Pou and his Argentine counterpart, Alberto Fernández.

The Uruguayan president stated some time ago that MERCOSUR should not be a “burden” for the bloc’s members and therefore, if one should want to advance in a trade negotiation and the others do not, it should be allowed to do so in order to expand its market.

In addition to flexibilizing the bloc so that countries may negotiate on their own with other nations or groups, Uruguay also supports Brazil’s intention to lower the common external tariff.

Source: Infobae