Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff said her government would continue with the policy of reducing labour costs to favour companies and improve their competitiveness and hinted that new initiatives referred to power costs for industry could be in the pipeline.
Brazilian officials brushed aside claims from exporters that the country has been ‘soft’ on Argentina and on imports from Asia, mainly China, arguing that trade figures indicate something different and “you can’t have it both ways, liberal and protectionist”.