This Thursday (21) the 60th Ordinary Meeting of the Summit of Heads of State of Mercosur, an economic bloc composed of Paraguay, Uruguay, Brazil and Argentina, will take place. This is the first face-to-face meeting of leaders since the beginning of the pandemic.
After canceling his trip to Asunción, capital of Paraguay, President Jair Bolsonaro is expected to participate in the Mercosur Summit via videoconference. The suspension of the trip is due to the president’s official commitments in Brazil. In this edition of the meeting, Paraguay leaves the temporary presidency of the bloc and passes the function to Uruguay. Each presidency lasts for six months.
Yesterday (20) the ordinary meeting of the Council of Mercosur took place with the participation of ministers of State. Prior to the change of presidency, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Paraguay announced the signing of the Mercosur Free Trade Agreement with Singapore. The bloc also reached a consensus to reduce the Mercosur Common External Tariff (TEC) by 10%. The measure has already been adopted by Brazil unilaterally.
According to the Brazilian government, the signing of an agreement to combat femicide and the continuation of negotiations to expand agreements with India and Israel are still expected during the meeting this Thursday. Also today, a working breakfast is scheduled for the heads of state of the Forum for the Progress and Development of South America (Prosul). The main issue to be discussed is the fight against organized crime across the region’s borders.
This year alone, Brazil exported over R$10 billion to Mercosur and imported approximately R$9 billion from member countries. According to the federal government, more than 90% of Brazilian sales to Mercosur are products from the manufacturing industry, including exports from the automotive and machinery and equipment sectors.
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