Temer, Piñera sign Brazil–Chile free-trade deal

Brazil’s President Michel Temer flew to Santiago, Chile, where he signed a free-trade deal with Chilean President Sebastián Piñera in hopes of boosting the flow of goods and services between the two countries.

One of the main items in the agreement involves the abolition of international roaming charges for mobile data between Brazil and Chile. There are also commitments for e-commerce, regulatory practices, anti-corruption measures, environment, and labor issues.

In a note, the Brazilian Foreign Ministry said the impact of this deal on Mercosur–Pacific Alliance ties “will constitute both a vector for bringing Mercosur and the Pacific Alliance closer together and bolstering regional integration.”

Agreement

The talks for a free-trade deal started in April last year. At least 17 items were included in the document, among them trade and services, e-commerce, telecom, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, technical obstacles to trade, facilitated trade, intellectual property, and micro, small and medium businesses.

Newly signed protocols will also be incorporated by the two nations into the pact, like public purchases and investment in financial institutions.

Partner

Chile is Brazil’s second main trade partner in South America and a country that a significant amount of Brazilian investment in the region. In 2017, bilateral commerce reached $8.5 billion, up 22 percent from the same period last year.

From January to September 2018, commercial exchange between Brasil and Chile stood at $7.21 billion, an increase of over 13 percent compared to the same time span in 2017.