Trade Story

It's basically a six-line story which the German news media has transformed into a two-page story.  Yes, the EU has finally concluded a trade agreement with South America....'FREE TRADE' is branded across the article, and they talk of the 750-million people to 'gain' on this deal.

So, here's the funny part of the story.  It took the EU and the group of South American countries....20 YEARS....to reach the conclusion of this deal.

Yes, 20 years.

So new and vast markets for EU products in South America?  Well....that's the big question.  Some analysts suggest that fruit, meat, drinks, and tobacco are the main export products that will gain for South America, and some sales will increase.  You might see more frequent ship deliveries of fruit into European ports, and there might be some noticeable upswing on Argentine beef.  Going into South America?  The chatter is mostly about drugs, technology items, and vehicles (buses, trains, cars, etc). 

The lack of a TTIP treaty between the US and the EU?  Now you can go back to 2016 and wonder how that EU and US trade agreement fell apart (early Oct 2016).  All the negativity over the TTIP deal....then you have to look at the South America-EU trade deal, and wonder why the same negativity didn't arise now.