Uruguay will apply to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement despite Mercosur’s warning

The President of Uruguay, Luis Lacalle Pou, ratified yesterday that the country will apply to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), despite the warning of the other three Mercosur partners (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay) that they would adopt measures if Montevideo materializes its adhesion to the referred space.

“We are assisted by international law; we are assisted by recent events of decisions that are not taken by consensus”, said Lacalle Pou when consulted by journalists in Montevideo.

He mentioned as examples “the first tariff reduction agreed between Brazil and Argentina” and “a tariff reduction” to “benefit free trade zone products and services” from Uruguay when exported to Brazil.

Lacalle confirmed that Foreign Minister Francisco Bustillo would deliver during his official visit to New Zealand the request to join the CPTPP.

“We are going to do it. We feel we have every right to do so”, he emphasized.

In a communiqué, the national coordinators of Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay before the Mercosur Common Market Group stated that “the three countries reserve the right to adopt the eventual measures they deem necessary to defend their interests in the legal and commercial spheres”.

This announcement was made “given the actions of the Uruguayan Government with a view to the individual negotiation of trade agreements with a tariff dimension, and taking into account the possible presentation by the Oriental Republic of Uruguay of a request for accession to the CPTPP”.

For his part, Lacalle Pou said, “We understand the claim of the three countries, even if we do not share it. We have been very open in the hand-to-hand talks. We have been very open in the Mercosur meetings”.

“We have one next week that is going to be very entertaining, and we are going to talk about these issues”, he assured me about the Mercosur summit on Dec. 5 and 6 in Montevideo.

CPTPP

The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, also known as TPP11 or TPP-11, is a trade agreement among Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam.

It evolved from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which never took off due to the withdrawal of the United States.

The eleven signatories have combined economies representing 13.4 percent of global gross domestic product, at approximately US$13.5 trillion, making the CPTPP one of the world’s largest free-trade areas by GDP, along with the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement, the European Single Market, and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership.

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