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Mercosur summit opens with Brazil-Argentina rift over Milei's US trade deal

Asunción hosts a bloc split three ways: Argentina's Washington pact and CPTPP bid, Venezuela's re-entry, and a stalled EU agreement

贸易·领导人· stalemate 谁的钱·谁说了算 ·7 视角 · ·rbtfl 更新 2026年6月29日

Summary

The Mercosur presidential summit opened in Asunción on June 26 with an open rift between Brazil and Argentina. Javier Milei arrived at odds with Lula da Silva over the bilateral trade pact Argentina struck with the United States, Buenos Aires's bid to join the CPTPP, and Milei's refusal to back Venezuela rejoining the bloc. Brasília publicly asked Argentina to clarify the US deal's scope, fearing it would distort the bloc's common external tariff and intra-regional trade. Host Paraguay, chaired by Santiago Peña, pushed the official agenda: finalising internal details of the long-delayed EU agreement and opening trade talks with Japan. Bolivia's Rodrigo Paz and Uruguay's Yamandú Orsi also attended.

The split

Coverage split by capital. Argentine market dailies Ámbito and El Litoral framed Milei as defending sovereign room to deal with Washington and Asia against a protectionist Brasília. Paraguay's Última Hora and ABC Color, from the chair, foregrounded the EU and Japan tracks and a bloc trying to pivot to Asia. Diaspora outlet Hispanic Post centred Brazil's fear of "distortions". The framing the US-deal cheerleaders skip: a member cutting its own pact with Washington strains Mercosur's defining rule, a shared external tariff, and could fracture the bloc's leverage in the EU and Japan talks it is simultaneously trying to close.

By the numbers

  • 5, Mercosur full members at the table (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, Bolivia).
  • 25+ years, that the Mercosur-EU agreement has been negotiated, still unsigned.
  • 1, new trade track opened at the summit, with Japan.
  • 0, consensus on Venezuela's re-entry, blocked by Argentina.

Why it matters

Mercosur's common external tariff is the glue; a member signing a separate US deal tests whether the bloc holds or loosens into a free-trade-area-of-convenience. The outcome shapes the EU pact's final push and whether South America negotiates with Washington and Beijing as a bloc or as rivals.

What to watch

  • Whether Argentina formally details the US pact to partners.
  • Any Mercosur waiver letting members cut bilateral deals.
  • Progress on the EU agreement's internal text and the new Japan track.
  • Argentina's CPTPP application and Brazil's response.