Politico | 30 September 2025

UK trade minister says UK-Mercosur trade deal a ‘no brainer’

By Caroline Hug

LIVERPOOL, England — U.K. Trade Minister Chris Bryant is eyeing a trade pact with Mercosur, the South American trading bloc that includes Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Bolivia.

“We haven’t started any formal process at all,” Bryant told POLITICO on the sidelines of the Labour party conference on Tuesday. “I’ve had very positive conversations in Argentina and with Brazil, but I haven’t had any conversations with Uruguay and Paraguay yet.”

Bryant — who described himself as “a passionate Latinophile” — argued that securing a deal with Mercosur would be a “no-brainer,” particularly after the European Union finally completed its own long-delayed agreement with the bloc last year.

“There must be chapters that we would be able to close which would be almost identical to the EU that we can close very quickly,” he said. “I’m sure there’d be difficult conversations to be had.”

The EU–Mercosur deal, finalized after 25 years of on-and-off negotiations, but still subject to ratification, has drawn heavy criticism from farmers in France, Poland and Italy, who fear an influx of South American beef and poultry. The agreement cracks open a highly protected market of over 280 million people for European exports.

The European Commission is eyeing a possible signature of the agreement on Dec. 5 in Brazil, four EU diplomats told POLITICO.

Bryant warned the U.K. risks being sidelined if it doesn’t follow in the EU’s footsteps.

“I have a worry with the EU and EFTA [European Free Trade Association] having done a deal with Mercosur — Brazil [is a] G20 economy and São Paolo would be G21,” he said. “If we are excluded from that, then British businesses will really suffer. I think we only do something like 12 billion pounds worth of trade with Brazil. That is bonkers. It should be much bigger.”