Overwhelmed by its financial problems and lack of foreign currency, which seriously limits international trade, there is an increasing position among some Argentine government theorists that Brazil's better performance could help its Mercosur partner with loans and other credit instruments to keep the country's activity going and safeguarding jobs.
Trade relations between Brazil and Argentina are improving with an overall volume of US$12.5 billion in the first five months of this year. Brazil exported US$7.5 billion worth of goods and imported US$ 5 billion from Argentina, according to the Comexstat portal of the Brazilian Ministry of Industry, Commerce, and Services.
Argentina's Foreign Minister Santiago Cafiero Tuesday in Buenos Aires with his Uruguayan counterpart Francisco Bustillo to discuss a 33% increase in bilateral trade, among other issues.
Uruguay's Foreign Minister Francisco Bustillo Friday said that in addition to China there were several other countries interested in reaching one-on-one trade deals with his country.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned on Monday the United States and Brazil need to reduce their dependence on imports from China for their own security as the two countries reinforced their business partnership.
The American Chamber of Commerce in Brazil, (AmCham Brasil) released the ‘Brazil-United States Trade Monitor’, which pointed out that bilateral trade in 2020 between Brazil and the United States until September registered the worst result of the last 11 years.
Argentina's bilateral trade with Brazil resulted in a US$ 107 million deficit in August, which more than doubled the US$ 42 million of the same month a year ago, according to data released by the Brazilian foreign trade office.
Visiting Chinese Vice-President Xi Jinping signed Wednesday in Uruguay 17 cooperation agreements and trade contracts for the purchase of 530 million US dollars in Uruguayan goods before leaving for Chile the third leg of his tour of Latin America.
Uruguay sees China as a ‘strategic partner’ and has kept good relations with Beijing since the two countries forged diplomatic ties in 1988, said Uruguayan Foreign Affairs minister Luis Almagro, a former ambassador to China from 2007-2009. Almagro made the statement as Chinese Vice-President Xi Jinping begun his official visit to Uruguay.
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.