US shows interests in Brazil-US trade deal

On Tuesday (07/30), United States President Donald Trump said in an interview with journalists at the White House that he intended to enter into a Brazil-US free trade deal. “Brazil is a great trading partner. They charge us a lot of tariffs, but otherwise, we love the relationship,” said Trump.

According to Reuters, Brazil has “ambitious” goals to negotiate a free trade agreement with the US, “Brazil’s main interest is to expand and improve our economic and trade relations with the United States. We are the largest western democracies, but our trade flows are well below potential,” Foreign Trade Secretary Marcos Troyjo said in an interview hours after Trump said he would seek a trade deal with Brazil.

US Secretary of Commerce

The Secretary of Commerce of the United States, Wilbur Ross, announced yesterday (07/30), in São Paulo, that the United States is interested in closing a free trade agreement with Brazil. He stressed, however, that many stages of trade negotiation still need to be completed and declined to estimate the time required for the deal to be closed.

“Many components are needed [to reach an agreement]. However, we never concluded the bilateral investment treaty between Brazil and the US, which would be a logical precursor to any kind of Free Trade Agreement. There are many things in business dialogue that need to be done,” said Ross at a news conference after attending an event in São Paulo, at AmCham Brazil.

Ross also stressed that for Brazil-US free trade deal to move forward, the terms of the Mercosur treaty with the European Union must not create obstacles. “It is important that nothing in the agreement between Mercosur and the European Union is an impediment to a free trade agreement between Brazil and the United States. It is important to avoid obstacles that may inadvertently appear in Mercosur’s dealings with the European Union,” he said.

Sources: Agência Brasil e Reuters

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