At the end of April, Argentina announced to its Mercosur partners, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, that they would withdraw from trade negotiations already concluded with the European Union and the European Free Trade Association. This unilateral decision caused shockwaves on the part of Mercosur, as it implied a possible dissolution of the trading bloc. However, Argentina`s decision was later overturned and Mercosur`s partners are now considering how they can make progress despite each country`s competing priorities. Although Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay are interested in new trade agreements with other countries such as Canada, South Korea and Singapore, the von Fernandez government has reversed Argentina`s liberal stance and does not support the idea of new trade agreements. Analysts say Argentina`s trade has been severely damaged by severe government import restrictions, weaker demand from Brazil – the country`s main trading partner – and high inflation that is holding back the country`s competitiveness. In addition, farmers continue to accumulate cereals and soybeans to protect themselves from the weak peso. The country, which has not had access to international capital markets since the 2001 insolvency, is heavily dependent on commodity exports to draw the foreign exchange reserves needed to meet its debt obligations. [5] Argentina is one of the original members of the MERCOSUR trade group. The other full members are Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. The MerCOSUR trading group, which is the third largest integrated market in the world, is undoubtedly the main trading group to which Argentina belongs and which is responsible for most of its trade in and a-a of the country. Much of Argentina`s trade is facilitated by multilateral agreements integrated into MERCOSUR. The bloc has free trade agreements with Mexico, Peru, India, Egypt, Israel and, more recently, the European Union.

In March 2019, Chilean President Piaera and Argentine Macri met to celebrate the ratification of the new trade agreement between the two nations, dubbed “Protocol 61.” Trade relations between the EU and Latin America are the first priority for deep economic, social, cultural and even family relations between the two sides of the Atlantic.