Mexico City-The Vice President of the Republic and Minister of Development, Industry, Commerce and Services, Geraldo Alckmin, denied on Thursday (28) that Brazil and Mexico are discussing a free trade agreement.
The statement came after reports indicated that Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and Secretary of Economics, Marcelo Ebrard, would have publicly discarded this possibility during the visit of the Brazilian entourage to Mexico City.
According to sources of the Brazilian government that accompanied the bilateral meetings, the theme was not even placed on the table – and the impasse stems from a misinterpretation of Sheinbaum’s speech to the press.
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When asked about the possibility of a free trade treaty, the president replied that her government is not considering this kind of agreement at the moment, but an “economic collaboration”.
“At no point did it think about having free trade. This we have at Mercosur,” said Alckmin. According to the vice president, the focus of negotiations with Mexico is the updating and expansion of the Trade and Investment Agreement, signed for over 20 years.
“An understanding has been made and there is a schedule: it starts now in August and runs until July 2026. We hope to complete the negotiations and sign the new agreement in September 2026,” he said.
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The purpose of the bilateral agenda is to modernize existing commercial clauses, incorporating topics such as agricultural traceability, sanitary barriers, regulatory integration and cross -investment -.
Alckmin stressed that the current agreement is outdated and that the new cycle of negotiations can generate significant gains in competitiveness. “Nothing prevents stages of the agreement from being anticipated,” said the vice president.
Mexico is 6th destination of Brazilian exports
Alckmin’s statement has been accompanied by optimistic data on bilateral trade performance. “Our commerce goal is the maximum we can. In July, we exported to Mexico US $ 805.3 million – a growth of 29.6% over the same month of 2024,” he said.
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Mexico is already the sixth largest destination of Brazilian exports and the seventh partner in the total trade current. The approach gained new impetus with the recent official mission led by Alckmin, which brought together more than 100 Brazilian businessmen in the neighboring country.
