“What the US is discussing involves tariffs and creating trade barriers on a global level, while the Mercosur-European Union agreement speaks of free trade between two important economic poles,” emphasized Jorge Viana in comments made in Lisbon.
He noted that “Europe [European Union], if it were a country, would be Brazil’s second-largest trading partner, only behind China and ahead of the United States,” while highlighting the currently “very good” trade flow between the European bloc and Brazil.
“It’s 48 billion dollars [42.2 billion euros] from Brazil coming here and seven billion [6.1 billion euros] coming from Europe to Brazil,” he stated.
In this context, Portugal today enjoys “a differentiated relationship” with Brazil, the president of APEX highlighted, owing to a favorable environment created during the government of Brazilian President Lula da Silva over the past two years.
This relationship was fostered “first with Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, who has been very present in Brazil, and former Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa, followed by the current Prime Minister Luís Montenegro.”
Despite representing different political forces, this relationship considers the “common interest with Brazil” while prioritizing the Brazilian government’s approach to addressing the “common interest” of both countries, he continued.
“President Lula invests a lot in this relationship with Portugal to strengthen Brazil’s and Mercosur’s presence in Europe,” Viana conveyed during the interview in Lisbon.
According to Jorge Viana, Portugal “has been a partner” in finalizing negotiations for an agreement that took 25 years to negotiate and “remains a partner for the implementation of the agreement.”
The APEX president spoke in Lisbon during the first day of his European tour, which began in Portugal, where he will stay until today, and will continue through Warsaw and Brussels, home to the European Commission’s headquarters. The tour aims to gather support for the ratification of the agreement between the European bloc and Mercosur, a South American organization that includes Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay.
This is one of the largest economic blocs in terms of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) globally and one of the largest in terms of food production.
“The Mercosur Agreement is in the process of ratification in European institutions and serves as a crucial pillar for generating alternatives to traditional trade relations, which have been jeopardized by recent political decisions,” stated APEX in a press release about its president’s European visit.
The agenda for the ApexBrasil delegation, headed by Jorge Viana in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, includes meetings on April 23 and 24 in Lisbon, Portugal; April 25 and 26 in Warsaw, Poland; and April 28 and 29 in Brussels, Belgium. The meetings will involve political leaders and business representatives from various sectors, such as animal production, coffee, fruits, family agriculture, among others, as well as representatives from the Trade and Investment Promotion sectors (SECOM), Science, Technology and Innovation sectors (SECTECS), and agricultural attachés, according to a statement from APEX’s press office.
