|
 The Chamber of Foreign Trade of Brazil (Camex) has released a list of products imported from the United States that it intends to slap surtaxes on totaling US$ 591 million in retaliation for US cotton subsidies.
The list is a mixed bag, going from automobiles to chewing gum, tooth paste, shampoo, cologne, fish, pears, beer and potatoes. But the most controversial item on the list is wheat (the import surtax will go from 10% to 30%), which it is believed will mean an increase in the price of bread for Brazilian consumers.
However, the secretary for Foreign Trade (Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade), Lytha Spindola, says this will not happen as Brazil has alternative sources of wheat imports.
"This matter was studied together with the Ministry of Agriculture and the Brazilian import needs were considered. We have greater domestic production and suppliers like Argentina, Uruguay and Canada, among others," she said.
Brazil plans to collect another US$ 238 million from the services sector, and intellectual property and patents the US holds, in order to reach the US$ 829 million retaliation ceiling authorized by the World Trade Organization.
Carlos Márcio Cozendey, director of the Economics Department at the Foreign Ministry, says it was decided to expand the list of retaliation products beyond the farm sector (which was directly harmed by US cotton subsidies) in order to put some pressure on the US Congress.
It is expected that producers of some of the products on the list will be calling their congressmen complaining about the surtaxes and asking why they have to lose market share in Brazil because of US cotton sector polices which harm developing nations all over the world and especially poor nations in Africa.
The retaliation may be put into practice in 30 days and the new import fees selected by the Camex should be valid for a year.
Last year, the World Trade Organization (WTO) authorized the government of Brazil to retaliate the United States by up to US$ 829 million after a Brazilian appeal against subsidies that do not comply with the organization's rules, but granted by the United States to cotton farmers. In early February, the list had already been approved, but it needed technical adjustment.
The government of Brazil hopes that the US government will accept the measures. The 30-day period also grants some more time for dialogue, according to Cozendey. Therefore, he hopes that next year the establishment of a new list of goods and services for retaliation should not be necessary.
ABr
|
Subscribe to this comment's feed
