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Opportunities are in the offing for forwarders and logistics operators, as the EU and the UK appear to be in sync when it comes to signing free trade agreements (FTA) with third nations, according to DHL, as the UK pushes hard for a deal with the Mercosur countries.
In the first six months of 2026, the EU 27 had concluded three major deals, having signed a decades-in-the-making agreement in India in January, sandwiched in between an FTA with Mexico and its May agreement with the 10-member South American bloc, Mercosur.
The deals come against a cacophonous noise of global trade being in retreat and the break-up of the post-war world order, but for chief executive officer for Europe of DHL Express, Mike Parra, the deals typify the manner in which global trade reacts to crises.
Speaking to The Loadstar, Mr Parra said that he expected the deals the EU had entered into this year would “bear fruit” imminently, pushing back on those suggestions that global trade may be entering its dying moments.
“Global trade is too big to fail, because trade is like water, it will find its lowest point, and it will find its way, and that is what’s happening, we just need to look at the shift that has taken place between China and Asia Pacific,” Mr Parra continued.
“Their biggest trade lane was the US. That has shifted now to into Europe. So, trade will find its way. And this is something we have been explaining to governments, including in the US where I spoke to the House, the Senate, even the White House and said, ‘trade equals jobs’.”
That shifting shape of trade has not broken down the interconnectedness of the global market, rather it is lighting up new epicentres, with Mr Parra noting that Czechia, Hungary, Romania, Poland, and Türkiye – in his jurisdiction – are looking particularly exciting.
But he was keen to note the synchronicity between what is happening when it comes to deal-making by the EU and the UK, with the former’s massive FTA with India coming less than six months on from the UK’s own post-Brexit India agreement.
And while the arrangement between the UK and Mexico has been in place for the better part of quarter of a century, Mr Parra noted that it is now following in the EU’s wake by looking to tie up a deal with Mercosur bloc.
Taking effect some 25 years after negotiations first began, the EU-Mercosur deal will remove duties on 91% of EU exports, including cars, from a current 35% over a 15-year term with the EU progressively removing duties on 92% of Mercosur exports over a period of up to 10 years.
Noting that the trade corridor between the two blocs already exceeded €100bn in value, chief executive of air and ocean at Rhenus, Jan Harnisch, said that the deal would “change things in a very concrete way”.
UK minister of state for trade, Chris Bryant, last year not only described a deal with the bloc as a “no brainer” but suggested while there would be “difficult conversations to be had”, he believed it would be possible to take much of the EU-Mercosur agreement to speed things up.
Mr Parra is not alone in his excitement over the deals being struck by European governments, with forwarders having told The Loadstar that EU-Latin America (and to some extent UK-Latin America) trade has represented one of the moment’s biggest bright points.
AGL Cargo’s Jackson Campos has spoken positively about the burgeoning trade corridor, telling The Loadstar that, “now there is a new agreement between Mercosur and the EU that promises to increase movement further”.
Should the UK reach an agreement the feeling seems to be that this would prove equally as positive, particularly with the strong reputation UK brands hold in the region.
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