The EU-Mercosur trade deal has moved from years of negotiation into a new operational phase, with the interim trade agreement provisionally applying from 1 May 2026. For freight forwarders, the significance is not simply about lower tariffs. The agreement could influence which products move between South America and Europe, how frequently they move, and the logistics infrastructure needed to handle them. The agreement covers the European Union and Mercosur’s four founding members: Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. Together, they already represent a substantial trading relationship. In 2024, EU imports from the four countries reached €56 billion, while EU exports to Mercosur were worth €55.2 billion. EU imports were dominated by primary goods, while manufactured products accounted for most EU exports to the region.
That existing trade base provides an important starting point for understanding what could happen to South America-Europe freight as the new arrangements take effect.
What Is the EU-Mercosur Trade Deal?
The EU and Mercosur reached a political agreement on their Partnership Agreement in December 2024, before signing both the Partnership Agreement and an Interim Trade Agreement in January 2026. The interim agreement began provisional application on 1 May 2026. The broader Partnership Agreement will ultimately replace the interim arrangement once it has completed the required ratification process.
The EU- Mercosur trade agreement covers areas including tariffs, rules of origin, customs and trade facilitation, technical barriers, sanitary and phytosanitary measures and sustainable development. This is important for logistics because changes in tariff treatment only work when accompanied by the documentation and origin procedures required to claim preferential treatment. The agreement is therefore more than a tariff story. It creates a framework that could make certain cross-Atlantic trade flows more commercially attractive while also placing greater importance on correct documentation and origin management.
Why South America-Europe Cargo Could Grow
The EU was already an important destination for Mercosur exports before the agreement. In 2024, 81.3% of EU imports from the four Mercosur countries were primary goods, while 86.6% of EU exports to Mercosur were manufactured goods. Major EU imports included petroleum and related products, animal feed, coffee, tea and cocoa, metalliferous ores and oilseeds. This creates a relatively clear two-way logistics pattern. South America sends Europe significant volumes of agricultural commodities, food products, fuels and raw materials, while European manufacturers supply machinery, vehicles, pharmaceuticals, chemicals and other industrial products.
The agreement could encourage additional trade within these existing categories, although the actual effect will depend on market demand, production, pricing and how quickly businesses adapt to the new tariff arrangements. For forwarders, that distinction matters. A trade agreement does not automatically mean that every commodity will generate more containers. Instead, it can alter the economics of individual trade lanes and make previously less competitive shipments more attractive.
Which Cargo Flows Could Be Affected?
One of the most interesting aspects of the agreement is the breadth of products involved. On the European export side, the agreement provides tariff relief for sectors including automotive, machinery, appliances, pharmaceuticals and agri-food. For example, duties on EU electric and hybrid vehicles entering Mercosur fall immediately from 35% to 25%, while duties on conventional cars are reduced from 35% to 17.5%. Tariffs on many machinery and appliance exports will also be progressively dismantled. That could have implications for South America-Europe cargo in both directions. A European machinery manufacturer selling into Brazil, for example, may see a more attractive commercial environment, potentially supporting additional export volumes. Automotive supply chains could similarly generate more movements of finished vehicles and components. On the agricultural side, the EU says the agreement provides new market access for products including wine, olive oil, fruit preparations and other agri-food products. The Commission estimates that EU agri-food exports to Mercosur could increase significantly as market access expands. For freight forwarders, this creates potential demand across several cargo types rather than one dominant commodity.
The Ports Connecting South America and Europe
The physical geography of the trade is just as important as the agreement itself. Santos is central to Brazil’s international logistics network. The port handled 186.4 million tonnes of cargo in 2025, including around 5.9 million TEU, according to Santos Port Authority. It connects Brazil with more than 600 destinations and handles cargo from more than 200 countries.
Its importance is particularly relevant to EU-Mercosur trade because Brazil is by far the largest Mercosur trading partner for the EU. In 2025, two-way EU-Brazil goods trade was worth €87.1 billion, and agricultural products accounted for 42% of Brazil’s exports to the EU.
Further south, Buenos Aires and Montevideo are important gateways for the Río de la Plata region. Montevideo is also developing its role as a regional logistics hub, handling transit cargo from Paraguay, southern Brazil and Argentina. Expansion projects have included container-terminal improvements and dredging of the access channel.
On the European side, ports such as Rotterdam and Antwerp-Bruges provide major gateways into the European market. Rotterdam’s role extends beyond maritime handling to inland distribution, warehousing and connections with industrial centres across Europe.
This means that the impact of the agreement will not be confined to the ports where vessels load and discharge. Cargo may travel considerable distances by road, rail or barge after reaching its European gateway.
What Could the Agreement Mean for Freight Forwarders?
The first consideration is capacity planning. If lower tariffs stimulate additional trade in particular commodities, demand for container space, specialised equipment and reliable vessel schedules could increase along specific corridors. Forwarders will need to monitor whether changes are structural or simply seasonal.
The second is customs and origin documentation. Preferential tariffs are conditional on meeting the agreement’s rules of origin. The EU’s customs guidance states that preferential treatment under the interim agreement is based on a statement on origin made by the exporter, with claims possible at import or within two years after release of the goods. That makes documentation accuracy increasingly important. A shipment may qualify commercially for a preferential tariff, but an incomplete or incorrect origin declaration can prevent the importer from receiving that treatment.
The third consideration is port and inland infrastructure. Santos is already handling record volumes and expanding container capacity. The Brazilian government says the planned Tecon Santos 10 terminal is intended to increase the port’s container capacity by around 50%. Similar developments across the South American and European port systems will matter if trade volumes increase.
Finally, forwarders will need to think about route flexibility. A shipper in southern Brazil may have different gateway options from an exporter in Argentina or Paraguay. The most efficient route will depend on cargo origin, final destination, inland transport, vessel schedules, port congestion and equipment availability.
A Trade Deal That Could Reshape Logistics Gradually
The EU-Mercosur agreement should not be viewed as an overnight transformation of the Atlantic freight market. Trade flows take time to respond to new commercial conditions, and businesses will make decisions based on demand, production capacity, pricing and investment as well as tariffs. But the scale of the existing relationship makes the agreement worth watching closely. The EU and the four Mercosur countries were already exchanging more than €111 billion in goods in 2024, and Brazil alone accounted for €89.5 billion of the EU’s trade with the bloc.
For freight forwarders, the opportunity lies in understanding what happens beneath those headline figures: which commodities start moving more, which ports handle them, which inland corridors feed those ports and where capacity could become constrained. As the EU-Mercosur trade deal moves into its implementation phase, those questions will become increasingly relevant for companies managing South America-Europe cargo. The businesses best positioned to respond will be those that follow the trade policy and the physical logistics network together, rather than treating them as separate parts of the supply chain.