All signals are green: French wines could emerge as winners from an EU-Mercosur agreement

Published 2024년 11월 30일

Tridge summary

The EU-Mercosur draft agreement, potentially set to be signed in December, aims for the gradual elimination of tariffs on wines and spirits, making French alcohols more competitive in South American markets. Despite internal opposition, the wines and spirits sector could benefit greatly from increased market share in Latin America, especially in Brazil. This could counterbalance the trade tensions and declining wine consumption in Europe. However, the agreement also raises concerns about the protection of other agricultural sectors. The success of this trade agreement could largely depend on its negotiations and the will to adapt to changing market dynamics, with France, Spain, and Portugal competing against other global wine producers. The history of the EU-Japan free trade agreement showing a 10% increase in exports to Japan in the same year it was implemented indicates potential benefits for the wines and spirits sector in the EU-Mercosur agreement.

Disclaimer:The above summary was generated by Tridge's proprietary AI model for informational purposes.

Original content

The EU-Mercosur draft agreement is stirring up French agriculture. Without fail, all voices in France agree to try to block it, while it could be signed as early as the beginning of December by the European Commission, pushed by the fierce support of certain Member States, such as Germany and Spain. Behind a facade of French unanimity, certain sectors could nevertheless emerge as winners from such a trade agreement, foreseeing a new prosperous relationship with the South American countries of Mercosur – starting with wines and spirits, the unchanging champions of French exports. The wines and spirits sector "is clearly offensive" in the EU-Mercosur agreement, unlike the "defensive position" held by cereals, sugar or beef, confirms Elvire Fabry, researcher at the Jacques Delors Institute. Currently, the Mercosur countries (Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia) apply customs duties of 27% on wine. They vary between 20 and 35% in the case of spirits, such as whisky or gin. ...

Source: Bfmtv