A deal 25 years in the making could finally get the go ahead this month, as Italy is reportedly set to reverse its previous position and back the EU’s trade agreement with the Mercosur grouping of Latin American nations. One of those nations, Brazil, has also received some good news in the form of a bumper trade surplus.
Italy to back Mercosur deal
Bloomberg reports that Italy is set to give its backing to the EU’s proposed trade deal with Mercosur.
The deal has been negotiated over the course of 25 years, with Italy previously rejecting it. Italy is now expected to support the deal when EU ambassadors hold a vote to approve it on Friday (9 January), according to Bloomberg sources, meaning the deal could be signed by the EU on 12 January.
Italy, together with France, campaigned for the deal to be delayed over objections by European farmers. French prime minister Sebastien Lecornu said last week that France would refuse imports of food from Mercosur nations that had used pesticides banned in Europe.
Brazil boost
Brazil has received positive news on its trade, posting a forecast-beating trade surplus at the end of last year.
Reuters reports that the country achieved a US$68.3bn surplus in 2025 and now expects that to grow to $70-90bn in 2026. It had previously forecast a surplus of $61bn for 2025.
The country’s vice president, Geraldo Alckmin, said the government was “optimistic” on further trade growth even in the case of “greater geopolitical instability”.
Nvidia China shift
The export of Nvidia’s advanced H200 AI data centre chip to China is ramping up, as the tech giant’s chief executive, Jensen Huang, said demand was “very high”, adding that “we’ve fired up our supply chain and H200s are flowing through the line”, according to the FT.
In December, US president Donald Trump offered to allow the export of the chips to China on the condition that Nvidia share 25% of the returns with the government, though this arrangement has yet to be completed.
Huang told the CES tech conference in the US this week (6 January) that “the last details” of the agreement were in the process of being finalised.
While the H200 is not Nvidia’s most advanced chip, it is more advanced than the H20, which was the most powerful one Nvidia was previously permitted to export to China.
UK-EU movement
The UK government is set to present a bill to Parliament to establish a legal framework for its ongoing ‘reset’ with the EU.
A government official told Politico that the legislation could be presented as early as the spring, but may also be presented in the summer. The areas covered could vary from pesticides and food standards to animal welfare, electricity markets and emissions trading.
A spokesperson for the government said:
“The UK-EU reset is improving our diplomatic, economic and security cooperation and will be worth £9bn to the UK economy by 2040. We will legislate to deliver on this and further details of the bill will be announced in due course.”
Elsewhere in the headlines
- China is expanding its footprint in Brunei’s oil trade following the US’ capture of the president of Venezuela, a major oil trading partner for China
- The UK and France agreed to send troops to Ukraine for peacekeeping purposes in the event of a peace deal as Russia deployed navy ships to guard a tanker coming from Venezuela
Yesterday in trade
- The Trump administration called for major investment into Venezuela’s oil industry from the US’ largest oil firms
- There were doubts about the strength of UK demand for electric vehicles from SMMT chief Mike Hawes
