Agreement with Mexico should be priority for São Paulo industry
Valor Econômico 07/21/10
Brazil will make an effort in order to guarantee still in the second half the foundations of free trade agreements with Mexico and the European Union and, to do so, it will have strong support of the Brazilian private sector, assures the Director of International Negotiations of the Federation of Industries of São Paulo (Fiesp), Mario Marconini. In August, the Brazilian Government will have a meeting with representatives of the Mexican Government to examine the conditions to negotiate, in the coming months, the free trade agreement with that country."Mexico is our top priority", says Marconini, pointing the strong sales growth to the Mexican market, the only with which, by agreement, Brazil may also sign a free trade agreement without the Mercosur partners. Brazil and Mexico have a trade agreement in the car sector and a framework agreement that allows the export of goods at reduced rates; in August, during the visit of President Felipe Calderón to Brazil, the Mexican Government started showing new interest in resuming the negotiations, stopped by the fear of the entrepreneurs in Mexico.
The National Confederation of Industry (CNI) has been trying to convince the Mexican industrial confederation to engage in the negotiations. The greatest resistance comes from sectors that fear the Brazilian competitiveness in areas such as foods. Marconini asserts the Brazilian entrepreneurs are willing to accept greater opening of the market for the Mexican sales. In August, in a new meeting, negotiators from both countries will try to set deadlines and parameters for the negotiation. In the first four months of the year, the Brazilian sales to Mexico increased 40% compared to the same period in 2008; 80% only in May.
Marconini says the suspension - not to speak of failure - of the so-called Doha round for the liberalization of trade in the World Trade Organization (WTO) opens rooms, in the opinion of the Government and entrepreneurs, to attract Europeans to a negotiation. There is optimism in the Itamaraty Palace (head office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs), where it is even spoken of a wrapping up of the main negotiations still this year, for the entering into of the agreement in early 2011.
At the last meeting of the Superior Council of Foreign Trade (Coscex) of the Fiesp (Federation of Industries of the State of São Paulo), earlier this month, the European Union was included as a priority for an agreement. "It's a delicate balance, the great mystery is what Europeans will do with the resistance such as the French's", recognizes the Director of Fiesp. The attractiveness of the Brazilian market may work as a strong argument, think the negotiators.