00:00In Sao Paulo, Brazil's economic capital, some French entrepreneurs are already rubbing their hands with glee.
00:07For nearly 20 years, Philippe Ormanse has been importing wines to Brazil from 120 small French producers.
00:14These Languedoc wines are doing very well.
00:18A bottle bought for two euros currently sells for double that price.
00:21Even before the agreement's signing, Philippe has already received around 40 calls from new wine growers,
00:28lured by the future reduction in customs tariffs.
00:32It's a game-changer. It's huge.
00:35It means instead of paying 100,000 euros in customs, duties and taxes on a container worth 100,000 euros,
00:40I'll only pay 25,000.
00:43This importer is convinced that even beyond the wine industry,
00:46the agreement will benefit the 1,500 or so French companies and subsidiaries operating in Brazil.
00:54Trump's policy over the past year with additional duties and tariffs
00:57means that French industry and French companies will inevitably have to look to other markets.
01:02That's where you have an opportunity.
01:04France is currently the second largest foreign investor in Brazil,
01:07but only its 14th biggest trading partner,
01:10a paradox that the trade agreement could correct.
01:15This machine, for example, costs 10,000 in France,
01:18but a Brazilian customer will pay 18,000 to 25,000 for it here.
01:22Although this railway machinery specialist manages to sell French quality in Brazil,
01:30he's struggling to compete with Chinese competition in the rest of the continent.
01:36The Chinese have very aggressive prices, even if the quality is not always up to par.
01:41We welcome this agreement, which will allow us to pay less tax,
01:44be more competitive and regain some of the market share
01:48The company's goal is to conquer the rest of Latin America.
01:57With 270 million inhabitants,
01:59the five Mercosur countries represent the sixth largest economy in the world.
Comments