The European Union looks poised to score a trade victory in the U.S.'s backyard. On Apr. 15, negotiators from the EU and Mercosur, the customs union comprising Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay, are expected to exchange detailed proposals to lower or eliminate tariffs on the majority of their traded goods, the last big step to signing a free-trade pact by October. The key to the deal is the EU's decision to lower tariffs and liberalize farm-import quotas. That concession seems likely to persuade Mercosur to back down from its contentious demand for an end to European farm subsidies.
Copyright 2004, Bloomberg L.P.
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