Spain’s economy minister Carlos Cuerpo has said he believed the European Union would speed up the Mercosur trade negotiations with South America as the world struggled with new US tariffs.
On April 7 he said he felt the trade deal between the South American trade bloc and the EU could be finalised before the end of this year.
He said the trade war launched by the US should be an “incentive” to diversify the bloc’s trade relations.
“We hope that the current situation is being an incentive for all of us to understand that we have to go as quickly as possible in that ratification of Mercosur,” Cuerpo told journalists in Luxembourg, where he was set to meet his EU counterparts.
He has urged the European Commission to submit the documentation needed to ratify the Mercosur agreement before summer.
The deal, signed last December after decades of negotiations, could be ratified by the end of 2025.
The minister highlighted that Spanish wine and olive oil exports — sectors most damaged by US President Donald Trump’s tariffs— could grow by 40 per cent to 50 per cent once the Mercosur agreement takes effect.
“Hence the importance of moving forward,” Cuerpo stated.
He emphasised that opening new markets was one way to protect European industries, but not the only approach. He also called on the EU to provide supplementary aid to complement member states’ planned measures, which in Spain’s case were “estimated at €14 billion”.
“We believe that from Europe we have to send a message that the EU protects its citizens and has an umbrella under which we are more protected,” Cuerpo said, adding there were “several reasons why this aid has to be at the European level”.
“The powers in tariff matters are in Europe, if we have tariffs imposed, the collection will go to the European budget,” he said.
He also highlighted market diversification and corporate competitiveness support as key strategies the EU should advance under this protective “umbrella”.
European trade ministers convened in an extraordinary meeting on April 7 to establish political guidelines for the EC’s retaliatory response to Washington’s increased tariffs.
The 27 heads of trade also wanted to be informed by Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič of the progress of the body’s talks with the US administration and the outcome of his recent trip to Beijing.
Cuerpo stressed that “Europe’s message must be clear” – one of “trust and unity” during this period of heightened uncertainty and amid the potential impacts of Trump’s announced measures.
The Spanish minister said the US tariffs declaration only resulted in a “more fragmented and impoverished” world, as evidenced by three consecutive days of stock market declines.
