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BRASÍLIA – The economic team of President-elect, Jair Bolsonaro, is currently studying the presentation of a draft revision of Mercosur. And one idea is to turn the bloc, which is now a customs union, into a free trade zone, according to a source close to the negotiations. The model would be more similar to the former Nafta, which brings together the United States, Mexico and Canada. The idea is that the country does not need to adopt a common external tariff, which would pave the way for more bilateral agreements.
The subject must be one of the topics treated by Paulo Guedes in his engagements Monday in Rio, where he met with Chilean investors and attended a luncheon in Firjan. There are currently 11 tariff levels of the Mercosur Customs Union, whose rates range from zero to 20%. They are founding members of Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay. Other countries in South America are considered Associate States.
– In the field of free trade, everyone negotiates with whom he wants, there is no common external tariff. But there are no tariff barriers between them. We are still in Mercosur, nobody is thinking of leaving Mercosur, "said the source.
According to the source, who pointed out that the plans were not yet ready, the most certain would be that any project of change would be proposed after the agreement between the European Union and Mercosur. Last week, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that the deal would be less likely to fall under the administration of Bolsonaro.
This theme is also expected to emerge at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, scheduled for 22 January. To change the status of the block, an agreement would be necessary between the members. But the bet is that the plan would be viable, given the economic importance of Brazil in the region and the alignment on Argentina, whose president, Mauricio Macri, also has a more profile liberal.
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