Armando Monteiro Neto – Minister of Development, Industry and Trade
The Brazilian government begins on Wednesday, 11, officially the movement of rapprochement with the United States with the first trip of a minister in the country since the 2013 crisis, when it was discovered that the Americans had a scheme to spy on the Brazilian government. After two years of mutual distrust, the country back to the center of the policy of Brazilian exports – living one of its worst since 2003.
The Minister of Development, Industry and Trade, Armando Monteiro Neto, comes to Washington with a mission to resume stalled negotiations and pave the way to improve the trade balance with the US – In 2014, Brazil had a deficit of nearly $ 8 billion in trade with the US.
When deciding what needs to return the focus to the external market, President Dilma Rousseff also made it clear that the US needs to be a priority partner. With a rich market, lower import tariffs and economic breath showing that Europeans do not have yet, the country can absorb more manufactured and semi-manufactured goods than it has done so far.
“It’s a sign that Brazil considers the United States a strategic partner. We have with them the second largest trade flow, but the most important, because it has quality, it is of interest to Brazil. Beyond export more manufactured goods is different from China, who export more commodities, “said Monteiro, after meeting with industry on Monday, 9, at the Presidential Palace.
All negotiations between Brazil and USA were still in both years. The intention is that in the coming months, get up enough speed to agreements that Rousseff and US President Barack Obama, have to sign on the state visit that the president should do to Washington in the second half of this year.
market
After a year of difficult trade with Argentina, the United States has become the largest market for Brazilian manufactured, but the values are still well below the best period between 2003 and 2008.
Data collected by the National Confederation of Industry show that in 2008, Brazil sold the equivalent of US $ 16 billion in manufactured goods in the US market. The following year, that number dropped to $ 9.3 billion and never returned to the previous level. CNI calculates a minimum potential of $ 2.3 billion in immediate growth.
The trade deficit with the US have declined. Closed at $ 7.97 billion in 2014, with a trade of $ 62 billion. In 2013, the deficit was US $ 11.36 billion, the highest since 2008, the last year in which Brazil managed to sell more than buy US.
“When the relationship with the United States is increased, brings more opportunities for the industry. They returned to growth and it is important for us to partner with this growth. We need to be flexible to associate ourselves with the countries where the flow of trade grows, “said Monteiro. The low import tariff on average of 5%, facilitates access to the US market, according to the minister.
The US GDP rose 5% in the last quarter of 2014 and 4.7% in the previous, beyond the most optimistic forecasts. Already the Euro zone growth forecast is only 0.8%.
CNI charges that resolve issues such as the Open Skies agreement, which facilitates American companies areas of operation in Brazil and vice versa, and the Global Entry, which facilitates the flow of people, especially the business. There are still pending an agreement on patents, which allows acceleration and the grant in both countries, and another to create mechanisms for cooperation in plant protection.
All these discussions were well advanced by the suspension of the visit of Dilma to the US in 2013 because of the spy scandal. Now, even with the information that the White House may not have given the suspension of the watch on the Brazilian presidency, as he did with , the Brazilian government decided to ignore the diplomatic sensitivities and appeal to the commercial pragmatism.
