EUobserver’s Post

A New Phase for EU–Mercosur Trade EU–Mercosur Trade Agreement: Strategic Opportunities and Shared Challenges Earlier this month, the European Commission proposed the EU–Mercosur Partnership Agreement for adoption. This marks a new phase in the process and raises important questions for policymakers, businesses, and stakeholders. On 24 September, the EPPA Constructive Trade Dialogue will provide a timely forum to examine what these developments mean in practice — from opportunities for trade and investment to the shared challenges that remain. We will hear perspectives from the European Commission (Leopoldo Rubinacci), the European Parliament (Evelyn Regner), and BusinessEurope (Luisa Gradim Santos) — ensuring a transversal exchange under Chatham House Rules. 📅 24 September 2025 | 🕛 12:00 – 14:00 CET 📍 EPPA, Place du Luxembourg 2, Brussels ➡️ Participation is free, but registration is required: https://lnkd.in/d7pBJsQj

The SA government and business are aligned on the need for export diversification. That does not mean abandoning existing markets but building on them. What we now need to do is to initiate, in earnest, trade talks with new export markets. Two critical areas require attention from both government and business. First, engaging new potential trade partners in various sectors of the economy will require solid technical expertise in the SA government. In the early 2000s, SA had a deep pool of human capital in the area of trade matters, particularly in terms of senior negotiators and technical experts. However, over the past decade things have changed as the country has gone through a period of maintaining relations rather than a continuous opening of markets, as we witnessed in the early 2000s. Therefore, a review of human capital and ensuring the relevant departments have sufficient resources to enhance their skill set, if needed, are critical if we are to succeed in our attempt at trade diversification. The expectations have already been set as SA’s political leadership once again highlighted its intention to diversify its export markets during engagements in the US in the last week of September. Sending out such a message at a global level was key to affirming the seriousness of this approach to the domestic audience and to international partners, so they will have SA on their radar. READ MORE HERE: https://lnkd.in/d_TE7-GM

Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone Regulations to Take Effect on 29 September 2025 The Regulations on the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone (“Regulations”) were adopted at the 24th Session of the 16th Shanghai Municipal People’s Congress on 25 September 2025 and will officially come into effect on 29 September 2025. This revision reflects over a decade of reform and innovation in the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone (FTZ). Through systematic and integrated institutional arrangements, the Regulations aim to showcase the achievements and confidence of the FTZ’s development to both domestic and international market participants, further reinforcing its role as a pioneering model in China’s opening-up. The Regulations comprise 10 chapters and 69 articles. Key highlights include: - Promoting investment and trade facilitation - Accelerating the development of an open and innovative cross-border financial service system - Strengthening technology-driven development - Facilitating data flows - Optimizing post-border regulatory frameworks - Enhancing legal safeguards With these measures, the Shanghai FTZ is set to continue its role as a trailblazer (“leading goose”) in driving reform and high-standard opening-up.

"Fourteen small and medium-sized members of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), including Singapore, on Sept 16 established a partnership to boost their trading links, amid strains on the rules-based trading system. The other members of the Future of Investment and Trade (FIT) Partnership, launched in a ministerial meeting held virtually, are Brunei, Chile, Costa Rica, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Morocco, New Zealand, Norway, Panama, Rwanda, Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Uruguay. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong, who represented Singapore at the meeting, said the partnership reflects member nations’ collective purpose to support the rules-based multilateral trading system, and address the challenges of today and tomorrow. 'We hope the FIT Partnership will be a catalyst for innovation that can be scaled up to the multilateral level to strengthen the WTO,' he said in a statement. 'Singapore will continue to work with our partners to ensure that our economies remain open, connected and future-ready.' ... At the launch, which was also attended by WTO director-general Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the 14 partners issued a joint ministerial declaration setting out the partnership’s objectives, principles and priorities. These reflect the partners’ belief in international trade and its role in driving prosperity, enabling growth and innovation, and building resilience against economic shocks. The members agreed that the body will serve as an agile and informal platform to foster cooperation between private and public partners and catalyse new initiatives that address emerging challenges and opportunities in three domains – supply chain resilience; investment facilitation; and non-tariff barriers and trade facilitation. The FIT Partnership will also act as an enabler of trade technology." Ovais Subhani, 14 smaller WTO members, including Singapore, tie up to support open and fair trade, 𝘚𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘛𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴, 16 September 2025, https://lnkd.in/guMXMCDV

Global trade debates have risen over stalled multilateral talks and rising domestic barriers that tilt markets. Governments face pressure to defend local industries while innovators push for open competition, strong property rights, and clear rules. Shanker Singham, chairman of The Growth Commission and a veteran of trade and competition policy on both sides of the Atlantic, says that anti-competitive distortions—not tariffs alone—drive the greatest harm. https://lnkd.in/eyTA9wZM

The practical steps he announced matter. A South Africa-US Trade and Investment Forum will be held alongside next year’s annual investment conference. The US Chamber of Commerce will take over B20 chairmanship from South Africa, providing another way for the two countries to work together on improving trade relationships. These moves can generate real mutual benefit. But Ramaphosa also confronted an uncomfortable truth. Unprecedented trade policy uncertainty is hammering the global economy, with sharply negative consequences for development. The US remains our second-largest trading partner after China. Yet current tariff policies are forcing countries like ours to diversify risk by seeking new markets.

South Africa and the US are on track to finalise a revised trade deal in October, with only a few outstanding issues related to Agoa renewal remaining. Trade minister Parks Tau updated the cabinet on progress following recent high-level talks in Washington. Renewal discussions in the US Congress may result in a short-term extension to allow for improvements. Read the full report ➡️ https://lnkd.in/dJ5sRV4u

The US-SA Trade negotiations’ wheels are turning albeit slowly for SA impacted businesses. It is however promising that the conversation seems to have toned down a bit from the more acrimonious one the commencement. It seems that AGOA has indeed expired prior to it renewal but seemingly there is still some interest from the US to extend it for short to medium term. This, it is understood, is with a view to ensure a systemic approach to the subject of US-All of the world trade, bringing together legacy agreements from yester-years. This bodes well for the markets where SA is concerned as a numbers of indicators were initially adversely affected by the initial tense relationship between the two trade partners. The sooner the arrangement is finalised the better to SA commerce to properly strategise around the future of their business, alignment to the trade negotiation developments while supporting SA’s efforts at implementation of the agreement. This while not forgetting that there is a US court process which might reverse some of these developments should the Highest Court rule against some of the proclamations. Tsholofelo Dihutso (MBA)

📈 In the latest edition of the Competitiveness Check, GMF trade experts highlight 10 recent key transatlantic trade-related developments. https://lnkd.in/eb6qEK3v

How are global market shocks and trade tariffs shifting Australian Private Equity? ✔ 55% of investors are embedding tariff risks into M&A due diligence. ✔ 28% are countering higher costs with fresh value creation initiatives. While U.S. and European funds report being underprepared, Australian investors are taking a proactive approach, making resilient diligence a foundation for long-term value. Read more: https://okt.to/jOG7FW Timo Schmid, Ola Bennerholm, Vijay Chari, Joan Uy, Yee Jia Ho, CFA, David Willis, Igor Sadimenko, Utsav Garg, Sean Keegan, Jamie Stewart, Alexandra Williams, Steven Shirtliff, Doug Houston, Tim Edwards, Brett Duell, John Sanger, Kaushik Sriram, Australian Investment Council