Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva threatened to walk away from a long-awaited trade deal between South America’s biggest trading bloc and the EU after France and Italy raised objections.
“If we don’t do it now, Brazil won’t make any more deals while I’m president,” Lula said.
The agreement — in negotiations for decades — would create one of the world’s largest free-trade areas: Germany has pressed for it to be finalized. But EU countries with powerful farming lobbies, including France and Italy, have repeatedly delayed its approval, demanding protections for their agricultural industries.
EU diplomats hope a compromise can be reached at a summit today, though one warned that if the deal is not signed this week, “it will die.”