On 3-12 December, the 4th Round of Negotiations for a free trade agreement between MERCOSUR and Canada was held in Brasilia, where both parties ratified their willingness to reach a free trade agreement in 2019.
During the round of negotiations, the exchange of improved offers on Trade in Goods was discussed and the commitment to exchange Service offers in early 2019 was ratified. Progress was made on key chapters such as Intellectual Property, Trade Defence, Trade Facilitation and Protection of Competition -which is nearly concluded-.
Consensus on inclusive trade -commitments and actions related to the participation of SMEs, women and indigenous peoples- and protection of labour standards was also underscored.
Canada is a major investor at the global level and Canadian goods and services imports amounted to USD 500 billion in 2017. With a stock of more than USD 2 billion, Canada is the tenth largest investor in Argentina and the only NAFTA country with which Argentina records a trade surplus (USD 700 million on average over the past three years).
The future signing of the agreement is expected to increase and diversify Canadian investments in Argentina as well as Argentine exports to Canada.
