EU–Mercosur playbook
Most of Mercosur’s duties on EU goods fell on 1 May 2026, and fall again every 1 January. Know your rate, year by year.
First, the lay of the land: where the EU–Mercosur agreement stands. Then the playbook, in English and Italian, walks you through the tariff schedule for your HS code and spells out what your product needs to qualify. The calculator does the number-crunching: a landed cost and a price you can quote, every year to 2045.
Playbook in English and Italian, plus a calculatorStatus at 7 October 2026, every source datedInstant download after payment
Four markets, one agreement, and a different base rate in each.
Where you are
The agreement applies. Your price list doesn’t show it yet.
You have read that Mercosur is cutting its duties. Your importer in São Paulo asks whether your price can come down. Your forwarder wants to know who writes the statement on origin. Nobody can tell you what your product will pay in 2029.
The answers exist, spread across a tariff annex with four base rates on every line, a rules-of-origin annex written product by product, and customs guidance from both sides of the Atlantic.
Four answers to have before your next quote.
What exporters miss
Three details that decide your duty.
One line, four starting points
Mercosur’s schedule gives each line a base rate per country. Virgin olive oil starts at 31.5% in Argentina and at 10% in Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay.
The codes are older than yours
Mercosur’s schedule uses its 2012 nomenclature and the EU’s the 2013 Combined Nomenclature. If your code has changed since, you are reading the wrong line.
Origin is written product by product
Pasta qualifies only if non-originating flours and semolina stay within 20% of its weight. A rule like that decides between the reduced duty and the full one.
The real price
What getting it wrong costs.
The duty you keep paying
Mercosur’s duty on EU textiles is 35% today. For exporters who qualify it falls to zero over eight years, starting with a cut of 3.9 points on day one.
The REX threshold
Above €6,000 of originating goods per consignment, an EU exporter’s statement on origin needs a REX number. Without it, your importer pays the full duty.
The verification clock
If customs question your origin, the exporting country has ten months to reply. A statement with no file behind it costs the preference.
Where you want to be
Now picture your next quote.
Your importer asks about price. This time you’ve got it: this year’s rate, next year’s, the day it hits zero, and what every cut is worth to each of you. Customs want to see the origin file? It’s already there. The talk turns to volume.
You plan the phase-out instead of reacting to it.
What’s inside
Three files, one plan.
The playbook, English edition
The state of play first, then the tariff schedules and how to read them. The official tools, step by step. Origin: the rules, and the paperwork that proves it. Also in there: GIs, standards, safeguards, procurement, sector notes, a 12-week plan and the risks.
The playbook, Italian edition
The same playbook, written in Italian for your team and your partners in Italy.
EU–Mercosur Export Calculator
Enter your numbers: for each year to 2045 you get the duty, the landed cost, the ex-works price you can quote and your saving. Then there’s an origin self-check on your bill of materials, and the document checklist. Bilingual, for Excel or Google Sheets.
A page from the playbook
One line of the schedule, read to the end.
From section 3: an example machine with a 14% base rate in staging category 10, shipped to Brazil with a customs value of €190,000.
Section 3 · Worked example
Category 10, cut by cut
| Year | Rate | Duty | Saving |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 12.7% | €24,130 | €2,470 |
| 2028 | 10.1% | €19,190 | €7,410 |
| 2030 | 7.6% | €14,440 | €12,160 |
| 2033 | 3.8% | €7,220 | €19,380 |
| 2036 | 0% | €0 | €26,600 |
The figures are only an example. In the playbook you’ll find the article or annex beside every rule.
The playbook
One download, three files.
€99
Instant download after payment
Buy nowEvery rate, rule and date in the playbook carries its source and the day we checked it.
- Playbook in English, PDF, 36 pages
- Playbook in Italian, PDF, 37 pages
- Export calculator for Excel and Google Sheets
- Licence for your own company or companies
How it works
Three steps, one afternoon.
Buy
Pay at checkout and download the three files right away. A copy of the link is emailed to you.
Find your line
Look up your product’s base rate and staging category with the step-by-step guide to the official tools in section 4.
Price the years
Enter both in the calculator and read the duty, the landed cost and the price you can quote for each year.
Why Adaxit
Written by advisers who work between Europe and Latin America.
Adaxit is an advisory firm in Milan, founded in 2019. We help founders and SMEs grow across borders, between Italy, Europe, the United States and Latin America. This playbook puts our working notes on the agreement into files you can use yourself.
From the texts
Rates, rules and dates come from the agreement’s annexes, the European Commission, EU customs guidance and the Mercosur governments.
Both directions
Notes for EU exporters, with Italian sectors in detail, and for Brazilian, Argentine and other Mercosur exporters selling into the EU.
Dated
Status at 7 October 2026, with every source listed and the date we read it.
Plain about limits
General information, not legal, tax or customs advice. Adaxit does not provide investment services.
Honest fit
Is it for you?
It’s for you if
- You export from the EU to Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay or Uruguay, or plan to.
- You export from Mercosur to the EU and want the EU side in one place.
- You want to price the phase-out year by year instead of guessing it.
It’s not for you if
- You need a binding answer for a specific shipment. Ask customs for a ruling, or a customs lawyer.
- You would like someone to plan and run the market entry with you. See our cross-border expansion service.
Questions
Before you buy.
Is the agreement actually in force?
It has applied provisionally since 1 May 2026 between the EU and Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. The European Parliament hasn’t consented yet: it’s waiting for the EU Court of Justice to give an opinion. What does that mean for your contracts? See section 1.
What happens if things change?
That’s why it’s dated. You get the status at 7 October 2026 and, for each source, the day we checked it. Section 13 covers what to watch and how to draft contracts that can take a change.
Does it cover my product?
It shows you how to find the rate and the rule of origin for any HS code, with notes on agri-food and wine, machinery, automotive, fashion and chemicals. The calculator works for any code.
Is this legal or customs advice?
No, it’s general information. Before you rely on a rate or on your goods’ origin, have your customs broker or the customs authority confirm it.
When do I get the files?
Straight away. You download them once you’ve paid, and we email you the link as well.
Can colleagues use it?
Yes. The licence covers your own company or companies. Please don’t resell the files or share them in public.
Your next quote
The next cut comes on 1 January 2027. Price it now.
Pay at checkout and download the three files straight away. Start with section 1 of the playbook and the calculator’s Start here sheet.
Prefer a short read first? What the agreement changes for Italian SMEsSources: European Commission, DG Trade, Mercosur pages, news of 30 April 2026 and guide to provisional application (application from 1 May 2026 with the four countries; textiles at 35%, eight years, first cut of 3.9 points), read 7 October 2026; EU–Mercosur interim Trade Agreement, Annex 2-A and Appendix 2-A-2 (staging categories, cuts on 1 January, olive oil base rates, CN 2013 and NCM 2012) and Annex 3-B (pasta rule), as published by Brazil’s Siscomex, read 7 October 2026; European Commission, DG TAXUD, guidance on the rules of origin, 24 April 2026 (REX and €6,000; ten months for verification). Playbook contents: Adaxit EU–Mercosur Playbook, October 2026 edition; worked example for illustration.