This Monday, July 18, the President of the Republic, Luis Lacalle Pou, said that MERCOSUR as a whole has more potential to achieve a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with China, but if the bloc does not intend to advance, then Uruguay will not it can be frozen.
He noted that a feasibility study has been carried out together with a “positive” result and that, from now on, the phase that enables the negotiation of an FTA with China is open.
In this regard, the mayor of Montevideo, Carolina Cosse, also referred to the negotiations between Uruguay and China.
In the first instance, he questioned the current president because on February 2, 2017, when he was serving as a senator of the Republic, he warned then-foreign minister Rodolfo Nin Novoa about the consequences of advancing alone towards an FTA with China, without MERCOSUR partners. .
In this framework, she added that she does resist an archive, and reiterated that an FTA is not signed in a hurry. “You have to create a team with strong negotiating experience and this is a process that cannot be overnight, it has to be worked hard so as not to undress one saint to dress another.”
Goodbye to the industry of Uruguay
“If we open ourselves to China from one day to the next, goodbye to the Uruguayan industry. It has to be a process with counterparts and it has to be very clear to all citizens what Uruguay is going to get out of this”, he remarked.
Cosse said that there are two powers in the world: the United States and China. He noted that an FTA with the Asian giant is a major agreement and it would seem reasonable that the entire political system participate in a transparent process for citizens.
For his part, President Lacalle will officially announce the trade negotiation during the next MERCOSUR summit, scheduled for July 21, in which Paraguay will transfer the pro tempore presidency to Uruguay.
