Application for accession to CPTPP: Uruguay’s pressure on Mercosur
On November 30, 2022, Uruguay formally applied to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership Treaty (CPTPP).
Uruguayan President Lacalle Pou took office pledging to better integrate Uruguay into the global economy and has repeatedly pressured the Southern Common Market (Mercosur) customs union, which also includes Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay, to reduce the common external tariff applied to non-Mercosur goods and adopt more flexible trade rules that would allow individual members of the bloc to negotiate trade agreements with external partners.
Although Argentina and Brazil have resisted these changes, Uruguay has pushed unilaterally and is currently negotiating free trade agreements with China and Turkey, according to a U.S. congressional analysis.
On March 8, 2018, the trade ministers of Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam signed CPTPP.
CPTPP
The Mexican Senate ratified CPTPP on April 24, 2018 and the agreement is currently in force for Mexico, Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore (as of December 30, 2018), Vietnam (as of January 14, 2019), Peru (as of September 19, 2021) and Malaysia (as of November 29, 2022).
For the remaining signatories, CPTPP will enter into force 60 days after ratification.
On June 2, 2021, ministers and senior officials from the 11 TIPAT member countries established a working group for the United Kingdom‘s accession to the trade agreement, and China and Taiwan formally applied to join CPTPP on September 16 and 22, 2021, respectively.
Uruguayan merchandise exports for the 12-month period ended April 30, 2023 totaled $10.895 billion, compared with $10.415 billion for the 12-month period ended April 30, 2022.
Conversely, merchandise imports totaled $12.196 billion for the 12-month period ended April 30, 2023, compared with $10.512 billion for the 12-month period ended April 30, 2022.
Merchandise trade for the 12-month period ended April 30, 2023 recorded a deficit of $1.3 billion, compared with a deficit of $96 million for the 12-month period ended April 30, 2022.
