February 15, 2018 – The Canadian government plans to open free trade talks with the four-nation Mercosur trading bloc in South America, an official said on Friday, at a time when the future of NAFTA is facing increasing uncertainty. Canada sends around 75 percent of its goods exports to the United States and is looking for new markets to reduce the reliance on its southern neighbour.

Trade Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne is set to arrive in Paraguay on March 9 to launch talks with Mercosur, which also includes Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay.

Canada’s overall bilateral trade with Mercosur is worth only C$8 billion a year, he said. Trade with the Pacific Alliance grouping of Mexico, Colombia, Peru and Chile – all of which have free trade deals with Canada – totals C$48 billion a year. That is dwarfed by bilateral Canada-U.S. trade, which according to Statistics Canada totaled C$780 billion last year.

Source : Reuters