South America's Mercosur bloc signed a free trade deal Tuesday with the European countries of Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland, as ties between the two continents deepen amid global uncertainty sparked by sweeping U.S. tariffs.
The agreement was signed in Rio de Janeiro between Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay on one hand, and the four European countries — none of which belong to the European Union — on the other. The deal will create a free trade zone of almost 300 million people and a combined gross domestic product of more than $4.3 trillion, according to a joint statement.
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