04/08/2023 15:11

Updated: 2023-04-08 15:12

Trade balance. Photo: Pixabay

Stopped since the start of the pandemic, the Mercosur and Canada are expected to resume negotiations for a free trade agreement in May this year, when a team of Canadian negotiators travel to Brasilia for the first round of talks.

The launch of negotiations between Brazil and Canada was announced five years ago in Paraguay, and Brazil was responsible for leading the group’s negotiations. Since then, 7 rounds of negotiations have taken place.

Negotiations have progressed well and the private sector has shown interest in a free trade Agreementbut the pandemic froze everything.

According to information provided to CNN by Brazilian government officials involved in the talks, it is expected that a free trade treaty can be finished soon – in months, not years.

The idea, according to CNN, is to have a modern and comprehensive agreement, covering not only the elimination of tariffs on industrial and agricultural products, but areas such as services, investments, sanitary and phytosanitary measures. , intellectual property and government procurement, among others .

Current trade Brazil and Canada

Although not a relevant trade partnership for Brazil, the agreement with Canada would be important to increase the number of such treaties by the bloc and avoid unilateral agreements, as well as to accelerate the Mercosur and European Union agreementwhich encounters resistance on environmental issues from Europeans.

According to government data, Canada is the 13th largest exporter of Brazilian products. In the first quarter of this year, $1.217 billion was traded, an increase of 5.1% compared to the same period in 2022. Goldaluminium, semi-finished steel products, sugar, coffee and embrace are among the main exported products.

In the case of imports, Canada is 18th in our trade balancehaving as main products purchased potassium chloride for use as fertilizers, chemicals, medicines, aircraft Bombermachinery and equipment.

In the first three months of this year, US$734 million was imported, an annual decline of 3.4%.

Data reported by Foreign Trade Secretariat (Secex) show that the possible agreement of the Mercosur with Canada would represent an increase of R$33.4 billion in Brazilian GDP – compared to a scenario without free trade Agreement.