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Mercosur and Canada resume free trade agreement negotiations after years of impasse

  What is happening between Mercosur and Canada? After more than a decade of stalled talks, the Mercosur countries (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay) and Canada announced in September 2025 the formal resumption of negotiations for a free trade agreement. The decision was confirmed at a meeting between representatives of the two blocs during the United Nations General Assembly in New York and represents a strategic step toward strengthening economic ties between South and North America. This move is not just symbolic: it could pave the way for one of the largest trade agreements in the South American region in recent years, with direct impacts on the economies of millions of people—from farmers to small business owners. Why does this agreement matter? A free trade agreement between Mercosur and Canada has the potential to eliminate or reduce tariffs on thousands of products, facilitate investment, increase business competitiveness, and generate new job opportunities. For ord...
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Trump considers sanctions against Alexandre de Moraes and spouses of STF ministers, says Marco Rubio

The Donald Trump administration is considering applying harsh sanctions against Justice Alexandre de Moraes, and is already anticipating possible reactions from the Supreme Federal Court. As a way of increasing pressure, American authorities are considering extending these penalties to other members of the Court and also to their spouses, especially wives who work in law firms.

According to investigations, the United States Department of Justice has mapped out Supreme Federal Court justices who are married to women who lead or have significant participation in law firms in Brazil. The logic behind this measure would be to compromise the main source of family income of the judges, increasing the effectiveness of the sanctions. Extending the blockade would directly affect the law firms linked to these women, preventing American companies or companies with activities in the United States from maintaining business relations with them.

Among the names mentioned are Justices Alexandre de Moraes, Gilmar Mendes, Dias Toffoli and Cristiano Zanin, whose wives are partners or have direct links with renowned law firms. Even so, the measure would not affect children or other family members, as the assets would not be considered communicable for this purpose.

Even in the face of the growing threat, most of the Supreme Court justices maintain their position that they will not change their decisions or their institutional stance. The pressure has been growing especially after actions by Justice Moraes involving the blocking of social networks and the removal of profiles considered to be disseminating disinformation, actions that were harshly criticized by American authorities as forms of censorship.

This week, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that there is a "great possibility" that Alexandre de Moraes will be punished under the terms of the Magnitsky Act — American legislation aimed at holding individuals accused of serious human rights violations and corruption accountable. This measure has already been discussed internally and is now gaining momentum with the support of members of the US Congress.

The White House investigations and negotiations also consider accusations of alleged political persecution of opponents of the Brazilian government by the Supreme Court justice. In a recent session of the US Congress, the risk of a politically motivated arrest of former President Jair Bolsonaro was even mentioned.

The situation has escalated rapidly, and the Trump administration's strategy seems clear: to increase institutional pressure on the Brazilian Supreme Court, using economic and diplomatic instruments to challenge decisions that it deems excessive or arbitrary. The coming weeks will be decisive for the course of this crisis between the two countries.
 

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