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Raw deal - The EU's unfair trade deals with Mexico and South Africa

This report analyses two prior EU trade agreements to answer the key questions: Why do a trade deal with the EU? What are the benefits? It shows how South Africa’s agreement goes well beyond World Trade Organisation (WTO) commitments and how these commitments led to increased imports from the EU, to South Africa’s cost. The second half of the report looks at the EU-Mexico trade agreement and NAFTA. It shows that although NAFTA resulted in more trade and foreign investment in Mexico, this did not translate into a healthier economy. It concludes that the main beneficiaries of the EU’s bilateral trade agreements have been European companies. Poor and marginalised groups in Mexico and South Africa have tended to end up worse off.