Lucinda Elliott

So as trade deals go, the EU-Mercosur saga really shattered records.

It exposed serious rifts between and within the negotiating blocs.

There were concerns over farming, deforestation, fierce internal politics that stalled these talks.

And the diplomats and analysts we spoke to say that the breakthrough really came only after the growing economic uncertainty that we've seen globally, notably the US trade war.

that shifted, at least for the European Parliament, the kind of political will to sign this pact.

But for farmers in Mercosur countries... The immediate winner is likely Brazil and then Argentina.

These are the two agricultural heavyweights, and they're going to be granted duty-free quotas for things like beef and poultry, plus some other more sensitive goods like rice, sugar, honey.

Brazil also has key critical minerals.

You know, it's got reserves of graphite, nickel, rare earths.

And while Argentina also has lithium and copper, all of which the EU considers and the world considers strategic...

for different areas like tech, photos.

So I imagine these two countries will see increases in agricultural exports and greater EU demand for critical minerals.