Thomas Andrew O’Keefe, president of Mercosur Consulting Group in New York: “The major hindrance to an E.U.-Mercosur trade agreement is agricultural protectionism on the part of certain E.U. member states. This also explains why the negotiations to reach an accord dragged on inconclusively for decades. The big difference now is that anti-free trade countries such as France and Ireland can use provisions in the framework agreement that require Brazil to protect the Amazon rain forest as a foil for not ratifying it. Unfortunately, the global food insecurity generated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has only served to strengthen justifications for agricultural protectionism. In any event, until we actually know who won Brazil’s presidential election later this year, it seems like a waste of time for E.U. officials to be engaging with the Bolsonaro administration. One explanation for these premature talks, however, may be a recent E.U. report that expresses alarm at China’s rapid replacement of Europe as a major trade and investment partner in South America’s Southern Cone. No doubt, E.U. officials are also…”