This warning was issued by the president of the Confederation of Industrial Unions (CSI), Danilo Dárdano, who, in a press conference, cautioned about the likely “manufacturing flood” from the EU, which could endanger national production and employment.

“Uruguay, along with the rest of Mercosur, should implement safeguards to protect national production,” he stated.

Dárdano advocated for advancing concrete trade defense mechanisms, similar to those applied by the EU in sensitive sectors.

In this regard, he proposed the creation of “automatic alerts” that would be activated by signs of deterioration in the labor market.

“If unemployment in a sector increases by more than three percent or if the number of contributors to the Social Security Bank falls, a protection mechanism should be triggered,” he explained. These tools would help anticipate negative impacts and act before sectoral crises deepen.

The trade agreement between Mercosur (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay) and the EU was signed in Asunción in January after more than 25 years of negotiations.

It aims to create a free trade area encompassing 700 million people.

The agreement, with provisional application scheduled for May 1, will gradually eliminate tariffs on more than 90 percent of products, facilitating exports and reducing non-tariff barriers.

It is pending approval from the European Parliament, which in turn is awaiting a ruling from the European Court of Justice.

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