European and South American leaders say pact sends \u2018clear signal\u2019 amid concerns over global tariffs, isolationism.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n European and South American officials have signed a major free trade agreement, paving the way for the European Union\u2019s largest-ever trade accord amid tariff threats and deepening uncertainty around global cooperation.<\/p>\n The deal finalised on Saturday between the 27-nation EU and South America\u2019s Mercosur bloc creates one of the world\u2019s largest free trade areas after 25 years of negotiations.<\/p>\n list of 3 items<\/span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n The agreement, designed to lower tariffs and boost trade between the two regions, must now gain the consent of the European Parliament and be ratified by the legislatures of Mercosur members Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay.<\/p>\n \u201cWe choose fair trade over tariffs, we choose a productive long-term partnership over isolation,\u201d EU chief Ursula Von der Leyen said at the signing ceremony in Paraguay\u2019s capital, Asuncion.<\/p>\n Paraguay\u2019s President Santiago Pena also praised the treaty as sending \u201ca clear signal in favour of international trade\u201d in \u201ca global scenario marked by tensions\u201d.<\/p>\n Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira said it was a \u201cbulwark \u2026 in the face of a world battered by unpredictability, protectionism, and coercion\u201d.<\/p>\n The deal received a greenlight from most European nations last week, despite opposition from farmers and environmental groups, who have raised concerns over a surge of inexpensive South American imports and increased deforestation.<\/p>\n Thousands of Irish farmers protested last week against the agreement, accusing European leaders of sacrificing\u00a0their interests.<\/p>\n But the leaders in Paraguay said the pact would bring jobs, prosperity, and opportunities to people on both sides of the Atlantic.<\/p>\n Together, the EU and Mercosur account for 30 percent of global GDP and more than 700 million consumers. The treaty, which eliminates tariffs on more than 90 percent of bilateral trade, is expected to come into force by the end of 2026.<\/p>\n The deal will favour European exports of cars, wine and cheese, while making it easier for South American beef, poultry, sugar, rice, honey and soya beans to enter Europe.<\/p>\n Reporting from Paraguay on Saturday, Al Jazeera\u2019s Latin America editor Lucia Newman explained that the Mercosur countries make up a \u201chuge area that produces enormous amounts of agricultural [products] and raw minerals\u201d that the EU wants.<\/p>\n \u201cHere in South America, they are very, very keen because [the deal] will open up an enormous market for them in Europe \u2013 but with more stringent conditions than they\u2019ve had until now. So that will need some accommodating,\u201d Newman said.<\/p>\n She added that it is critical to note the \u201cgeopolitical message\u201d that European and South American leaders were sending to the United States and other parts of the world by signing the deal.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd that is, that this is a gesture to support multilateralism at a time, as Von der Leyen said, when isolationism and tariffs are trying to rule the world,\u201d Newman said.<\/p>\n Just before the signing ceremony, US President Donald Trump announced new tariffs against several European countries over their opposition to his push to take control of Greenland.<\/p>\n The US leader has refused to rule out taking military action to seize the Arctic island \u2013 a semi-autonomous territory that is part of Denmark \u2013 fuelling widespread international concern and protests.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n European and South American leaders say pact sends \u2018clear signal\u2019 amid concerns over global tariffs, isolationism. European and South American officials have signed a major free trade agreement, paving the way for the European Union\u2019s largest-ever trade accord amid tariff threats and deepening uncertainty around global cooperation. The deal finalised on Saturday between the 27-nation […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9013,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9012","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latin-america-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9012","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9012"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9012\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9013"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9012"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9012"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9012"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Recommended Stories <\/h2>\n
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