President Obama wants to re-float a free trade agreement with South America
United States Trade Representative Ron Kirk announced that the administration of President Barack Obama is intent in reaching a free trade agreement with South America and called for a greater opening of the Brazilian economy.
“Historically since we achieved Nafta (free trade agreement including the US, Canada and Mexico in 1994) many people in the US have insisted we do something similar with the southern part of the continent. We’ve started with Chile and Peru and we hope, expect, others will be willing to join the initiative” said Kirk in a Sunday interview with the Brazilian newspaper O Estado de Sao Paulo.
The US trade top official said he was hopeful an agreement could be reached with the southern hemisphere in spite of the failure of negotiations for a Free Trade Association of the Americas which foundered in 2005 during a summit of the Americas in Mar del Plata, Argentina.
However Kirk also insisted that a greater opening of the region’s largest economy, Brazil was needed. The US lost its position as Brazil’s main trade partner to China in 2009.
“Our hope is that once the chalice of the Brazilians is full, they can spare a few drops to the poor neighbours from North America. We would like to have half the growth rate of Brazil”, said the US trade representative.
“No matter how strong cooperation with Chile and Peru can be, when you look at the map you simply can’t ignore the potential of Brazil that can also change life for neighbours in the region”.
With a more balanced alliance “we can build an even stronger trade relation, and it would be a way not only of generating more jobs for the economy, it would be beneficial for the whole region”.
However to achieve this “it is necessary for Brazil to show its commitment as an emerging economy to help all countries of the region by opening its economy”.
Kirk said the US interest is not only limited to contracts for the World Cup of 2014 and the 2016 Olympic Games, but also to the oil industry, high technology to develop the huge deep hydrocarbons discovery from 2007 onwards.
“This is an area to advance with no threats to the domestic interests”, said Kirk. The US interest in oil supplies and the development of the oil industry was clearly expressed during this year’s early March vivit to Brazil when he met with his counterpart, Dilma Rousseff.
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( Bush would have been much more likely to have said “I want a deal with Asia - by the way, what kind of country is Asia, and does it vote Republican?”)
Obama is educated; he never said this.
He also knows there is no mechanism for creating a Continent-wide FTA.
The most he can get is a country-by-country accumulation of bi-lateral trade agreements, each new one modifying the trading conditions of the previous ones.
This is the world we now live in.
Half a dozen S.A. nations can do the business in trade-volume terms, but some strategic materials are to be found in 'minor nations';
the basket of deals will be different in every case.
Geoff, Globalization (bogus free trade) is dead up north in the US (Go to Detroit and you'll see why) and in the south like Florida, they kinda love it since they depend on foreigners, local economy collapsed after the fake housing bubble. But on average, they know, NAFTA is a scam, but they can do nothing about it.
Brazils' greatest trading partner is China.
How do you describe the continuing monetary stance of China in respect of all other world currencies? Or given your post, don't you understand the question?
Rather than weapons,don't you think it's attempting to give brazil a favoured nation status again to exploit the other nations like in the past.
it's not as if the nations of SA don't know that any deal would be a partnership of the unequals; this is beyond dispute.
The issue is - can the specific trade deal offer win-win arrangements?
If yes, and if the arrangement is well drafted, the deal can last and prosper. No trade deal lasts forever - as we see in the Argentina-Brasil debacles - but whilst they are working well they offer specific advantage to the participants, to the trading disadvantage of those without similar agreements.
It is non-coersive, but it does tie-in participants to mutual, though asymmetric, spheres of influence that have the effect of - and are designed to be - excluding of competitors that also want to use trade arrangements to extend their own sphere of influence.
It is just a transaction, a bit like marriage with its tax-break advantages, and nobody expects it to be 'til death do us part.
Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,
Old Time is still a-flying;
And this same flower that smiles today
Tomorrow will be dying.
The glorious lamp of heaven, the sun,
The higher he's a-getting,
The sooner will his race be run,
And nearer he's to setting.
That age is best which is the first,
When youth and blood are warmer;
But being spent, the worse, and worst
Times still succeed the former.
Then be not coy, but use your time,
And while ye may, go marry;
For having lost but once your prime,
You may forever tarry.
............. To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time; Robert Herrick
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