French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday praised a recently improved free trade deal between the EU and Chile as he met counterpart Gabriel Boric in Santiago on the final leg of a tour of Latin America.
With France at odds with some European Union counterparts over a similar pact with South American trading bloc Mercosur, Macron said the deal with Chile should serve as an example of “respect for the interests of both sides.”
“It is a trade agreement that is consistent with our climate and biodiversity ambitions,” Macron said during a meeting with Boric.
Chile and the EU have had an ‘association agreement’ since 2002. This was updated last year but still needs to be approved by national parliaments in Europe before it can come into force.
Chilean lawmakers have already passed the modernized deal, which will see 99 percent of the country’s exports to the EU benefit from some form of tariff exemption.
Boric also praised the pact during his meeting with Macron.
– ‘Not satisfied’-
The French leader was on a state visit to Chile after attending the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, which also included a stopover in Argentina – both Mercosur members. Chile is an associate member, but not a full member of the bloc.
France has strongly opposed the finalization of a trade deal between the EU and Mercosur, which would include Bolivia, Uruguay and Paraguay in addition to Brazil and Argentina.
The pact has been in the works for a quarter of a century and in 2019 the outlines of a deal to create the world’s largest free trade zone were agreed.
But French farmers fear they will be undermined by what they see as unfair competition and face backing from their government.
In Argentine President Javier Milei – who has been in office since December last year – Macron appears to have found an ally, with the French president telling reporters on Sunday that his Argentine counterpart was also “not satisfied” with the draft deal.
On other matters, the French leader has a more natural ally in Boric.
“The two presidents share a common vision on the importance of multilateralism,” the Elysee said ahead of the state visit.
The men signed an agreement on Wednesday to establish a French-Chilean center for artificial intelligence.
Chile is the world’s largest producer of copper and the second of lithium, which is used in electric car batteries and is crucial to the global transition to cleaner energy.
Before returning to Paris, Macron will travel to the port city of Valparaiso on Thursday to deliver a speech on ties between France and Latin America at the meeting of the Chilean Congress there.
The French president has made few trips to South America since his election seven years ago, although he has had frequent contact with Brazil’s Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
At the G20 summit he met Mexico’s new president, Claudia Sheinbaum, and Colombia’s Gustavo Petro.
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