Canada aims to finalise a free trade agreement with Mercosur by year-end, as it endeavours to broaden its trading relationships beyond the United States, stated Foreign Minister Anita Anand during her visit to Brazil on Tuesday. In 2025, in the context of the United States’ tariff offensive, Canada and the Mercosur bloc, which includes Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay, reinitiated negotiations following a prolonged period of stagnation. “We have agreed to intensify free-trade negotiations with the aim of concluding an agreement with significant commercial impact as soon as possible and ideally before the end of 2026,” Anand said after meeting Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira in São Paulo.
“Over the coming decades, we are going to double our non-US trade agreements,” Anand added, against a backdrop of heightened trade tensions between Ottawa and Washington. Brazil, the third-largest economy in the Americas following the United States and Canada, is at the forefront of negotiations on behalf of Mercosur. “We have already held six rounds of negotiations, which are progressing very well. Only a few details remain to be resolved,” Vieira said. Anand acknowledged that a potential trade agreement with Mercosur has raised ‘concerns’ within Canada’s agricultural sector.
The trade agreement between the South American bloc and the European Union experienced delays spanning several years due to concerns raised by European farmers. These farmers were apprehensive about the potential influx of more affordable Mercosur products, which are produced under comparatively less rigorous sanitary regulations. The agreement was ultimately signed in January and entered into provisional force in May, pending ratification by the EU.