After more than 25 years of negotiations, a massive trade agreement between the European Union and four South American countries overcame one of its final obstacles today. Representatives from 21 of the EU’s 27 nations voted to pass the EU-mercosur Partnership Agreement, a big step toward creating a new trade zone comprising more than 700 million people, the largest of its kind on Earth.

This Interim Trade Agreement is just part of a much wider partnership the EU and mercosur are developing. The full EU-mercosur Partnership Agreement will require unanimous consent from all 27 members of the EU and ratification by more than 30 national parliaments.

The mercosur trade bloc consists of Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay. The agreement must still be approved by the European Parliament and the four South American national parliaments. With this deal, the European Commission says:

• EU exports to South America could rise by up to 39 percent and support more than 440,000 jobs across Europe.
• The automotive, mechanical engineering and pharmaceutical industries would profit most as, for example, mercosur ends its 35 percent tariff on imported cars.

Germany has pressed for the agreement for decades. Other EU countries view the agreement as a threat to European agriculture, since products such as beef can be produced more cheaply in Latin America. The agreement was made possible by concessions to European agricultural concerns, such as providing extra funds out of the EU budget.

The agreement will not only bind EU nations further into a common policy but also help the EU diversify away from trade with the United States and China. It is particularly relevant considering President Trump’s efforts to align Latin America with the U.S.

“We are sending a different message than the United States, which, with its intervention in Venezuela, is not only promoting the law of the strongest, but also deliberately seeking to further undermine the fight against climate change by gaining access to oil sources,” Bernd Lange, chairman of the Trade Committee in the European Parliament, told nTV.de.

The Bible reveals that Germany’s interest in this trade agreement goes far beyond beef, automobiles and other economic considerations. Deuteronomy 28 reveals the curses prophesied to come upon modern America for disobeying God’s law. Verse 52 warns of an economic siege orchestrated by a “nation of fierce countenance” (verse 50).

Based on this prophecy and a parallel prophecy in Isaiah 23, the Plain Truth under the late Herbert W. Armstrong warned: “The United States is going to be left out in the cold as two gigantic trade blocs, Europe and Latin America, mesh together and begin calling the shots in world commerce.” This prophecy and its dramatic consequences are explained in Gerald Flurry’s article “America Is Being Besieged Economically.”