South American trade bloc Mercosur this week will prepare its counterproposal to a European Union addendum on a long-awaited trade deal before meeting with EU negotiators in August in the hopes of closing the accord by the end of the year, two Brazilian diplomats told Reuters. Brazil felt targeted by a "side letter" added this year to the trade deal struck in 2019, adding environmental guarantees to the original accord, they said. The government of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who has made bold pledges of environmental stewardship in contrast to his predecessor, has taken its time to come up with a response.