The President of the Republic, Mario Abdo Benítez, expressed his concern on Thursday about the possible entry of China into the region under the protection of a free trade agreement and warned that this could threaten the member countries of Mercosur.
Source: EFE
“China’s entry into the region with preferential tariffs is an issue that we cannot deny that it concerns Paraguay and the entire region,” Abdo Benítez told reporters, after concluding the Mercosur presidents’ summit in the city of Luque.
The president reacted to Uruguay’s announcement that it will begin talks with China for a Free Trade Agreement (FTA), one of the issues that has been the cause of friction between the partners of the Southern Common Market (Mercosur).
Abdo Benítez, who gave Uruguay the pro tempore presidency of the economic bloc, indicated that China has “very competitive costs”, which, in his opinion, “can threaten” the industries of Paraguay, Argentina and Brazil, the other countries that make up Mercosur.
In that sense, he ratified his government’s position of advancing as a bloc towards any commercial agreement.
“We obviously see with concern the possibility of negotiating without an agreement and that we can all defend the policies that we consider important for our countries,” he added.
Consulted for relations between Paraguay and Taiwan
mer, the government official clarified that “Mercosur is a separate bloc.”
“Really, in fact, neither Paraguay nor Taiwan have problems with Paraguay having trade relations with China,” he pointed out.
But when asked about the possibility of negotiating the link with Taiwan, Abdo Benítez flatly rejected it.
“Nope. As long as I’m president, no,” she settled.
The Mercosur partners concluded two days of meetings this Thursday, the first in person since the start of the pandemic.
The deliberations were marked by differences on how to deal with trade agreements with third parties, since while some countries defend decisions by consensus, while others support going it alone, without ruling out linking their partners later.
