Japan, South America's Mercosur bloc start talks about trade deal, sources say
Sanae Takaichi, Japan's Prime Minister, speaks during a meeting at the Prime Minister's office in Tokyo, Japan, on Tuesday, May 12, 2026.
PHOTO: Reuters
TOKYO/BRASILIA - Japan and the South American trade bloc Mercosur have started talks about an economic partnership agreement, two Brazilian officials with knowledge of the negotiations told Reuters.
Brazilian and Japanese officials already held two preliminary meetings and plan to announce the talks during the Group of Seven meetings in France next month, the two officials added.
There were preliminary meetings with Japan in January, Mercosur's communications unit told Reuters on Tuesday (May 26), citing minutes from the bloc's last general meeting.
These included sessions held in Paraguay and on the sidelines of a World Trade Organisation conference in March in Cameroon.
Japan's Kyodo news agency reported earlier on Tuesday that the talks would start.
Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva are scheduled to meet on the sidelines of the summit.
Lula last year told the Mercosur summit in Buenos Aires that the bloc should focus on strengthening its ties with Asian nations such as Japan, China, South Korea, India, Vietnam and Indonesia.
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