国际英语新闻:Mercosur agrees on new measures to protect local industries

MENDOZA, Argentina, June 29 (Xinhua) -- Members of the Common Market of the South (Mercosur) announced Friday that each member country is allowed to decide whether to hike import tariffs unilaterally to protect the region's industries.

At a Mercosur Summit held in the western Argentine city of Mendoza, the Mercosur members approved a unilateral raise of import tariffs on 200 goods instead of a hike on 100 products, which was agreed upon at the previous summit held in Montevideo last December.

"The maximum raise of tariff will be 35 percent as the World Trade Organization authorizes," a Brazilian delegate told Xinhua anonymously.

At the summit, the member countries also rejected Brazil and Argentina's plan to raise the Common External Tariff within the bloc.

Mercosur was established in 1991 to create a common market in the Southern Cone of South America.It has four full members -- Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay.