EN 
PT_BR 
The entry into force of the trade agreement between Mercosur and the European Union is expected to have immediate effects on Brazilian foreign trade. Estimates from ApexBrasil indicate that the country could increase its exports by up to US$1 billion in the first year of its implementation.
The initial impact focuses on a group of 543 products with the greatest potential for short-term gains, within a universe of approximately 5,000 items that will now have zero import tariffs. With this change, approximately 54% of Mercosur exports will gain access to the European market without tariff barriers.
Photo: Claudio Neves
Among the sectors most directly benefited are food and industrial goods. Products such as honey, grapes, and leather stand out in agriculture, while engines, electric generators, and aircraft lead among industrial goods. In the aeronautical segment, trade liberalization expands access to a market estimated at approximately US$16 billion.
The agreement gains relevance given the size of the European market. The European Union handles approximately US$7.4 trillion in imports, with more than US$3 trillion originating from outside the bloc. In terms of scale, this is a market approximately nine times larger than Mercosur, which expands the potential space for the insertion of Brazilian products.
However, liberalization is occurring asymmetrically in the short term. On the European side, approximately 10% of products will have zero tariffs when accessing the South American market, a move that tends to increase internal competition, especially in industrial segments and those with higher added value.
In practice, the agreement combines opportunities for export expansion with greater exposure to the domestic market, requiring increased competitiveness to sustain participation in both directions of trade.
