The agreement signed between the European Union and Mercosur on Friday (28) provides that Europeans will reduce their import tariffs more quickly than the tariff cut required by the South American countries.
Each product category will have a specific rule.
In industry, the European bloc has up to 10 years to eliminate import tariffs for 100% of manufactured goods. Mercosur members will have ten years to zero tariffs on 72% of industrialized products and another five years to reach the level of 90.8%.
In the agricultural sector, Europeans will have ten years to end tariffs of 81.8% of the goods, while Mercosur will have to fulfill a percentage of 67.4%.
Green parties in the European Parliament threaten to obstruct the treaty's approval.
Translated by Kiratiana Freelon