USA and Brazil work towards a free trade agreement

According to a report published by Metropoles, there is a possibility for a free trade agreement between the United States and Brazil, as Americans work with the possibility of concluding up to five chapters of a “mini trade agreement” with Brazil before the end of the year, despite the coronavirus. According to sources representing United States diplomats in Brazil, before the end of the year, greater attention will be given to the Brazilian mineral sector. The sources say that the agreement would be very similar to the first chapters of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), which replaced the old North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

The American ambassador Todd Chapman has already publicly expressed the objective of doubling the volume of trade between Brazil and the United States in the next five years. Should that happen, the Americans would compete with China to be Brazil’s largest trading partner.  This mini trade agreement, according to American diplomats, aims to make the flow of products between the two countries less bureaucratic and thus, cheaper. In effect, it is the removal of trade barriers.

In addition to more business in the mineral section, agreements in the nuclear energy sector are also being discussed, as well as in the aerospace sector, with an agreement to use the Alcântara base, in Maranhão.  For the agreement to take shape and stop being “mini”, Americans and Brazilians are negotiating ways to circumvent the Mercosur rules, which oblige Brazil to negotiate collectively with its neighbors in various sectors.

Source: Metropoles

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