Uruguay eyes limited window of opportunity for trade liberalization

A meeting between President Luis Lacalle Pou of Uruguay and his Argentinian counterpart Alberto Fernández this weekend served to ease diplomatic tensions between the countries after last month’s heated Mercosur summit. Both leaders had publicly clashed over the trading bloc’s future, though Uruguay has subsequently made some token concessions so as to placate Argentina and remain on speaking terms with its neighbor. 

Mr. Lacalle Pou has shown, however, that he is not conceding an inch on his Mercosur strategy.

As a customs union, import tariffs and international trade agreements can only be negotiated as a bloc by Mercosur countries. But as President of Argentina, Mr. Fernández has been trying to cool liberalization initiatives by the bloc’s three other members — Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay.

After two years of little to no movement, Uruguay found a legal avenue to bypass Argentina’s objections, arguing last month that the rule that bans individual bilateral agreements between Mercosur members and countries outside the bloc had still not been ratified by all member countries’ parliaments. Uruguay thus announced it would start negotiations on its own.

In his weekend visit to Argentina, Mr. Lacalle Pou agreed to discuss matters in private before airing differences in...