Bill that wants to ban US from importing from Brazil must be withdrawn
For USP and FGV professor of agribusiness, Americans will not risk commercial relationship because they are the great beneficiaries
By Rural Channel, with information from Estadão
Democratic Rep. Peter DeFazio wants the United States to stop buying Brazilian products, such as meat and soy, in response to increased burning in the Amazon. For the professor of agribusiness at the University of São Paulo (USP) and Getulio Vargas Foundation (FGV) Marcos Fava Neves, the proposal presented has a short life, because it is supported by the lack of information from the American parliamentarians. “As the information reaches them, the project will be withdrawn,” he says.
Neves understands that the only way for PL to advance is if the flag behind it is protectionism. “A lot of people take advantage of this environmental spectrum for political purposes. If that is the purpose, we will have a little more work, but if the issue is environment, no, ”he says.
DeFazio’s text also provides for a ban on free trade negotiations between the two countries. In this regard, the professor says that the treaty gains strength every day, because it is also good for Americans. “They sell us more than they buy, so they won’t want to make trouble,” he says.
The idea is that a future agreement will facilitate procedures, increase trade relations and investments. Brazilian Chancellor Ernesto Araújo has a meeting at the State Department in Washington this week when he should address the issue.
What does the rest of the US Congress think?
At the House Foreign Relations Committee, US lawmakers signaled that negotiations on a trade agreement between the two countries should not be blocked by the environmental crisis. Donald Trump’s government has been Bolsonaro’s most important ally in the international debate on the situation of the Amazon.
The idea of a trade agreement has been drawn up by both sides, but has not yet gained official character. The US usually communicates to Congress when it formally initiates negotiations for an agreement.
Democratic Representative Albio Sires said he did not see the imposition of conditions on the deal as a way for Americans to put pressure on Brazil. “Let’s work together, let’s find a solution, what we can do together for that. This is not a good approach right now, ”he said.
Another Democrat, Dean Phillips, told reporters that he has not yet formed a position on the need to include environmental policy conditions to approve a possible deal. “There are challenges in using these instruments, but we have to look at all the options,” he said.
Nevertheless, economist Monica de Bolle, one of the experts heard by MPs, ponders that recent deals signed under Republican Donald Trump’s management included predictions about environmental protection. This is the case of the USMCA – the new NAFTA, renegotiated between the United States, Canada and Mexico.
“On both the Republican and Democratic sides, there is great concern about these environmental issues, so any agreement that may be made with Brazil, whether trade facilitation or something more ambitious, will contain these normative, these requirements. This is commerce in the 21st century, ”said Monica.
Link to the article: https://canalrural.uol.com.br/noticias/agricultura/project-that-wants-to-import-do-importar-do-brasil- should-be- removed
