Our European chemicals industry supports free, fair and sustainable trade. Free trade agreements are an important building block to deliver on this goal. We call on European decision-makers to conclude the EU-Mercosur negotiations given its potential to boost their competitive edge on the global market. It also helps to diversify both economies’ value chains for imports and exports.
Sylvie Lemoine, Cefic Deputy Director General commented:
“The time to act is now. Concluding the EU Mercosur FTA helps to deliver on the EU’s goal to increase its open strategic autonomy in times of rising economic security concerns. It is important that everybody recognises the huge opportunities this deal offers to help maintain a strong industrial base in the EU.”
Given that the EU lacks substantial reserves of key raw materials necessary for the green and digital transition and the fact that a substantial proportion of global growth is expected to come from outside of the EU in the next decade, all 23 industries represented would benefit from open export markets to sell European goods and services and procure competitively priced raw materials. The agreement is economically beneficial for both and offers Europe a unique and timely opportunity to seize its first mover advantage into world’s fifth largest economy outside the EU. It helps to significantly reduce both high tariff and non-tariff barriers that negatively affect European companies chances to enter and grow on a market with over 270 million consumers.
See the full letter here