MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Brazil warns Argentina about restrictions to bilateral trade
Brazil’s Commerce and Industry minister Fernando Pimentel called on the Argentine government to de-activate restrictions on Brazilian exports and revealed he had addressed a letter to his Argentine peer Debora Giorgi exposing restrictions on bilateral trade and demanding a reply this coming week end. Read full article
Comments
Disclaimer & comment rulesThere they go, the Unity and “El Modelo”. Debbie, Debbie, you're a bad gil lol do something, put on a bold face :P
May 13th, 2011 - 05:12 am - Link - Report abuse 0no can do Mr. Fernando Pimentel as you might be well aware that Brazil has a trade surplus, and what was agreed on paper can not undermind the Argentine economy, lets not forget we are representing the poeple not the private industry. we are sorry but Argentina doesn't react good to bullying or pure pressure, come again when your needs are less inmediate that way we can all be in more agreeable terms. untill the trade surplus comes down we will have to take a chill pill, we have inflation to worry about wich is way more damaging then economic threats nade by anyone, the reality is Argentina can't control Brazil's supply and demand nor can we control labor unions, production or return on investments, but we can as well as Brazil draft laws to protect the local economy wich is what Brazil is attempting to do with this formal complain, a word of advise patience is a virtue.
May 13th, 2011 - 11:02 am - Link - Report abuse 0but Argentina doesn't react good to bullying
May 13th, 2011 - 11:37 am - Link - Report abuse 0the pot calling the kettle black.
No one likes to be bullied, and that includes the falklands.
'I',
May 13th, 2011 - 12:23 pm - Link - Report abuse 0you speak in #2 as if you are am member of the ruling elite - using the word 'we'. Are you a government employee/officer/politician/etc?
You seem to think trade agreements are not worth the paper they are written on. Is this your Government's position?
You ask for patience. Until after the elections?
If Brasil had any sense it would
(i) isolate Argentina from bilateral trade and
(ii) cut it out of Mercosur - where it is a 'loose cannon'
- at least until commercial sanity replaces its present commercial insanity.
In the meantime Argentina could buddy-up to Venezuela and Cuba if it feels the need for economic support. It will delay the return of commercial sanity but it will make them feel 'wanted'.
@GW
May 13th, 2011 - 04:18 pm - Link - Report abuse 0In BR, government consumption in 2010 grew by about 3% - much less than total GDP growth. In 2011 - if one is to trust numbers produced by the private agency Serasa - government spending grew, again, around an annualized 3% -- much less than investment and private consumption. Therefore, there isn't much room for the government to reduce spending levels, which are already modest.
As Mark Weisbrot said once, the IMF behaves as a creditor's lobby group. And it is in the interest of the creditors that inflation remains low, and even if the government itself can do little about it - after all, most inflation in BR is imported from abroad.
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As for this article, I'm not even going to read it.
surprise, I thought that the recent import restrictions in Argentina only concerned Chile as an non-Mercosur member, but it seems not to be like that.
May 14th, 2011 - 08:59 am - Link - Report abuse 0Brasil has at last decided to meet the demands of the São Paulo Industries lobby group. This action is part of the overall economic & financial strategy which includes measures to rein in the currency.
May 14th, 2011 - 10:48 am - Link - Report abuse 0Argentina responded angrily today to a decision by Brasil, its biggest trading partner, to brake auto imports in tit-for-tat retaliation after Buenos Aires took measures to clamp down on soaring imports. This affects 50 per cent of total bilateral trade. [from Financial Times report.]
Brasil’s decision to require approval for shipments of autos, which may take up to two months per application (60 days), could have big consequences for Argentina’s manufacturing sector. Eighty per cent of Argentina’s car exports and 65 per cent of its car parts are sold to Brazil and the trade was worth nearly $7bn last year.
Débora Giorgi, Argentina’s industry minister, warned Brasil’s Fernando Pimentel, “the measures that the Argentine government has or may take, whether to defend trade, or to monitor trade, or in customs investigations, are all in line with World Trade Organisation accords and are not directed at any country in particular, least of all Brasil, which we consider a strategic partner”. Sra. Giorgi maintains that Argentina’s trade restrictions have not affected Brasil’s exports to Argentina.
Argentina had a $4.1bn deficit with Brazil last year and trade with Brazil represents 26 per cent of Argentina’s total foreign trade.
In February this year Argentina expanded by 200 to *600* the list of goods whose import requires specific approval (the 60 day approval), a bid to slow overall imports. This affects 18.7% of Brasil’s exports.
Roberto Lavagna, a former Argentinian economy minister said the resurgence of tensions was yet more proof of the Argentine government pursuing policies “that are not co-ordinated”. He said “The Argentinian government is taking ad hoc measures which clearly deteriorate the situation.”
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