“If it is negotiated outside the Common External Tariff, it destroys the tariff,” Vieira said. in an interview with Folha de São Paulo, referring to the announcement that the Luis Lacalle Pou administration released in July 2022, when Uruguay and China began the start of a bilateral trade agreement. “They are talking. They are announcing that they want to negotiate, but they must first have the agreement of the other members” that make up Mercosurexplained the minister.
“If you negotiate with different tariffs, if they are lower (tariffs), the things that enter that country cheaper —because they pay less— will circulate in the others because there is free circulation (of merchandise),” continued Vieira.
“There is tariff policy coordination, we all adopt the same system to be able to trade, export and import under the same conditions. If not, it is unbalanced,” the diplomat pointed out.
Asked about the position of the Lula government in relation to the proposal to make the bloc more flexible, Vieira explained that his country believes in the Treaty of Asunción, which specifies the existence of a Common External Tariff. He added about the FTA between Uruguay and the Asian country: “We have to examine it, because Mercosur is not the same as it was at the time of its creation”.
“You have to see the needs of each one and the asymmetries that exist. See what you can do in terms of some kind of concession”, acknowledged the Brazilian diplomat.
The Minister of Foreign Relations also analyzed the relationship between his country and Uruguay: “Brazil and Uruguay not only have a relationship within Mercosur, we have a direct bilateral relationship that is very intense. So you have to see it, because nobody is interested in destroying Mercosur. It doesn’t matter to Argentina, it doesn’t matter to Uruguay, it doesn’t matter to Paraguay, ”he explained.
