Frankfurt/Brussels, 3 September 2025 – Commenting on the European Commission's proposal to sign Free Trade Agreements with Mexico and the Mercosur countries, Oliver Richtberg, Head of Foreign Trade at VDMA, said:

"The European Union is finally making progress on the Mercosur agreement. The decision to treat the trade section separately is particularly helpful. Splitting will enable faster implementation – a win for our industry. Now it's up to the EU-Council and Parliament."

"In the machinery trade with the Mercosur countries, the average tariff burden on European exports is around 11 per cent – one of the highest rates worldwide. The agreement provides for these tariffs to be gradually reduced to zero in almost all areas. This will significantly strengthen the competitiveness of our industry."

"At a time when the US is sending protectionist signals with high tariffs and China is increasingly influencing international trade through export controls, these agreements send a clear signal for rules-based, free trade."

Oliver Richtberg, Head of VDMA Foreign Trade

VDMA represents 3600 German and European mechanical and plant engineering companies. The industry stands for innovation, export orientation and SMEs. The companies employ around 3 million people in the EU-27, more than 1.2 million of them in Germany alone. This makes mechanical and plant engineering the largest employer among the capital goods industries, both in the EU-27 and in Germany. In the European Union, it represents a turnover volume of an estimated 870 billion euros. Around 80 percent of the machinery sold in the EU comes from a manufacturing plant in the domestic market.