President Donald Trump’s global tariffs are convincing Austria to ditch its long-time opposition to a trade deal between the European Union and the Mercosur bloc.
Economy Minister Wolfgang Hattmannsdorfer is now urging the European Commission to prepare a final agreement and ratification process for the free-trade deal signed in December, which seeks to create an integrated market of 780 million consumers in Europe and Latin America.
“We should evaluate the Mercosur agreement in a completely new context,” Hattmannsdorfer said in a statement on Saturday. “We need this agreement now.”
The shift means there’s one fewer European nation opposing the pact that followed 20 years of negotiations. Some European countries, including France and Poland, have said they won’t accept the agreement due to its potential impact on farmers, raising questions over its implementation.
It also shows how Trump’s onslaught on the global economic order is pushing nations to adapt on the fly, including by forging new trade alliances and seeking markets for export goods that may no longer reach the US.
EU trade ministers are due to meet on Monday to discuss the US measures. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has promised a firm and proportionate response, but has also indicated that the EU would prefer to avoid a confrontation and instead find a negotiated solution in the coming weeks.
Hattmannsdorfer’s comments are all the more remarkable as they come from a minister appointed by the conservative People’s Party, which is deeply rooted in rural Austria and has been wary of damaging farmers, against the backdrop of surging popularity for the far-right Freedom Party.
Austria’s government is looking to pull the economy out of what will likely be a third year of recession, while also narrowing a budget deficit and helping an industrial sector hurt by tariffs and high energy costs.
“The objections to the original agreement are understandable,” said Hattmannsdorfer, 45, who took up his post in March. But the advantages and opportunities for Austria as an exporter will outweigh these objections, he said.
Mercosur, the regional economic market established in 1991, has five full members – Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. Venezuela’s full membership has been suspended since 2016. Seven other countries in South and Central America are associate members.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
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