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supply chains","mercosur-trade-pact-promises-to-boost-eu-critical-mineral-supply-chains","article/mercosur-trade-pact-promises-to-boost-eu-critical-mineral-supply-chains",{"_uid":547,"date":548,"tags":549,"editor":556,"content":566,"excerpt":625,"featured":51,"reporter":626,"_editable":630,"component":631,"seo_title":543,"categories":632,"visibility":639,"author_company":49,"featured_image":640,"seo_description":625,"author_full_name":49,"author_job_title":49,"formattedDate":644,"formattedArticleDate":645},"f8ead945-a5a7-485e-862c-422fc04fbc97","2024-12-18 00:00",[550,553],{"slug":551,"name":552},"european-union","European Union",{"slug":554,"name":555},"mercosur","Mercosur",[557],{"slug":558,"name":559,"content":560},"matthew-bird","Matthew Bird",{"job_title":561,"image":562,"bio":564,"linkedin":565},"Senior Editor - Supply Chains & Data Visualisation",{"filename":563},"https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/512x512/14738033ec/matthew-bird.jpeg","Matthew writes, edits and produces content for Benchmark Intelligence and Benchmark Source across the whole mine to grid supply chain. He also acts as a liaison to the press. He has a PhD in electrochemistry from the University of Nottingham.","https://www.linkedin.com/in/birdmatthew/",{"type":567,"content":568},"doc",[569,576,581,586,593,598,610,615,620],{"type":570,"attrs":571,"content":572},"paragraph",{"textAlign":49},[573],{"text":574,"type":575},"The European Union (EU) and Mercosur – a trade bloc comprising Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay – finalised terms on a controversial free-trade agreement (FTA) in early December, potentially opening up tariff-free trade of critical minerals between South America and Europe.","text",{"type":570,"attrs":577,"content":578},{"textAlign":49},[579],{"text":580,"type":575},"“For the EU this landmark deal represents a critical step towards supply diversification and critical mineral friendshoring,” said Bryan Bille, policy and geopolitical principal analyst at Benchmark. “It also provides the EU with the geopolitical means to counter China’s growing involvement in those countries.”",{"type":570,"attrs":582,"content":583},{"textAlign":49},[584],{"text":585,"type":575},"A partnership has been under negotiation for some 25 years and still requires approval from the majority of the EU’s 27 member states and the European Parliament. But it faces stiff opposition from France and other EU countries, due to the potential negative impacts on Europe’s agricultural sector.",{"type":587,"attrs":588,"content":590},"heading",{"level":589,"textAlign":49},4,[591],{"text":592,"type":575},"Critical minerals key ",{"type":570,"attrs":594,"content":595},{"textAlign":49},[596],{"text":597,"type":575},"The agreement would facilitate European access to a lower-cost, reliable source of critical raw material supply – key to boosting the cost competitiveness of the EU’s automotive and clean energy sectors.",{"type":599,"attrs":600},"blok",{"id":601,"body":602},"38b52dc7-05f9-4a42-8466-e958b6d5fa2f",[603],{"id":604,"_uid":605,"type":606,"_editable":607,"component":608,"fixed_height":609,"use_fixed_height":50,"fixed_height_mobile":609,"fixed_height_tablet":609},"20837985","i-34e9277d-c4e9-4452-81e9-b8a3a294a8a1","visualisation","\u003C!--#storyblok#{\"name\": \"ContentFlourish\", \"space\": \"\", \"uid\": \"i-34e9277d-c4e9-4452-81e9-b8a3a294a8a1\", \"id\": \"\"}-->","ContentFlourish","",{"type":570,"attrs":611,"content":612},{"textAlign":49},[613],{"text":614,"type":575},"Meanwhile, Mercosur economies would benefit from the removal of ‘tariff escalation’ (where more processed goods face higher import tariffs than raw materials), incentivising value-added investment. EU firms will also be granted establishment rights, designed to encourage investment into Mercosur economies.",{"type":587,"attrs":616,"content":617},{"level":589,"textAlign":49},[618],{"text":619,"type":575},"Why now?",{"type":570,"attrs":621,"content":622},{"textAlign":49},[623],{"text":624,"type":575},"The agreement comes in response to rising protectionism in the global economy, with both blocs seeing an opportunity to assert their commitment to a rules-based trade.","The European Union (EU) and Mercosur – a trade bloc comprising Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay – finalised terms on a controversial free-trade agreement (FTA) in early December, potentially opening up tariff-free trade of critical minerals between South America and Europe. “For the EU this landmark deal represents a critical step towards supply diversification and […]",[627],{"slug":558,"name":559,"content":628},{"job_title":561,"image":629,"bio":564,"linkedin":565},{"filename":563},"\u003C!--#storyblok#{\"name\": \"article\", \"space\": \"\", \"uid\": \"f8ead945-a5a7-485e-862c-422fc04fbc97\", \"id\": \"\"}-->","article",[633,636],{"slug":634,"name":635},"critical-minerals","Critical Minerals",{"slug":637,"name":638},"geopolitics","Geopolitics","private",{"id":49,"alt":609,"name":609,"focus":609,"title":609,"source":609,"filename":641,"copyright":609,"fieldtype":642,"meta_data":643,"is_external_url":51},"https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/ae14891d12/bm-eu-mercosur.jpg","asset",{"alt":609,"title":609,"source":609,"copyright":609},"Dec 18, 2024","18th December 2024",[],[],1781107325649]