In video sent to 60th Summit of Mercosur Heads of Statewhich took place today (21), in Paraguay, the President of the Republic Jair Bolsonaro declared that Brazil has acted so that the South American bloc has an “important role in facing the current external shocks.”
Referring to the high global inflation as a result of the consequences of the covid-19 pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Bolsonaro said that the world is experiencing “a challenging moment” and, therefore, “needs more trade and investment.”
“For this reason, during the last semester, we worked hard to conclude a modern agreement with Singapore”, said the Brazilian president, referring to one of the initiatives announced during the summit: the conclusion of negotiations for the signing of a free trade agreement between the Mercosur countries and Singaporein Southeast Asia.
Brazil also supported another of the initiatives approved yesterday (20), during the ordinary meeting of the Common Market Council, an event that preceded the Summit of Heads of State: an agreement to reduce the Common External Tariff (TEC) rate by 10%a tax that, except for agreed exceptions, is levied on merchandise imported from other nations outside the South American bloc and varies according to the product.
“Brazil has acted so that Mercosur plays an important role in facing the current external shocks. Therefore, we defend the reduction of the Common External Tariff, which will make an important contribution to the fight against inflation [regional]”, commented Bolsonaro before assuring that Brazil has given priority to negotiations with major trading partners in Mercosur and the region.
“Our regional environment is a priority. Even more so in the current scenario. We need to continue expanding our trade and investment flows in Latin America and the Caribbean, strengthening regional value chains and reducing our external vulnerabilities to crises”, added the president, who ended the video by congratulating Paraguay on the results achieved during the six months in that the country held the rotating presidency of the South American bloc – a position that, for the next six months, will be occupied by Uruguay.
