Brazil readies updated sector trade deals with Mexico

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By Kylie Madry

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -Brazil and Mexico plan to sign complementary trade deals in August of next year, Brazilian Vice President Geraldo Alckmin said on Thursday, after a meeting with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum.

Authorities signed preliminary agreements in agriculture, health and biofuels, Alckmin told a press conference in Mexico City.

Brazil is looking to ship more beef to Mexico, which recently overtook the U.S. as the No. 2 destination for Brazilian meat.

However, Mexico requires “traceability” of livestock, Alckmin said, which Brazil is looking to comply with.

“What we want is for the sale of Brazilian products not to be interrupted while Brazil moves towards traceability, something we agreed on,” Alckmin said.

Alckmin described the meeting with Sheinbaum as “very good” and said the two had also discussed biofuels and potential battery production.

Sheinbaum expressed interest in Brazil’s biofuel mandate, which orders more biofuels mixed into fossil fuels, Alckmin said.

He also said Mexico and Brazil could work together to make electric-vehicle batteries, noting Brazilian motor maker WEG already operated in the country.

He declined to say which Brazilian firms could be involved in an agreement to produce ethanol in Mexico, only saying that Brazil was looking to provide the technology to do so.

The sectorial agreements will refresh deals inked two decades ago, Alckmin said.

Brazil cannot negotiate a broader free-trade deal with Mexico without going through the Mercosur trade bloc, he added.

(Reporting by Kylie Madry, Ana Isabel Martinez and Natalia Siniawski; Editing by Aida Pelaez-Fernandez, Daina Beth Solomon, Alistair Bell and Nia Williams)