Brazil reaffirms to Biden administration its interest in a free trade agreement with the U.S.

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Brazilian Minister of Economy, Paulo Guedes, communicated this Friday, May 14, to the U.S. Secretary of Commerce, Gina Raimondo, that Brazil wishes to continue negotiations for a free trade agreement between the two countries, now under the administration of Joe Biden, official sources said.

Guedes took advantage of the telephone conversation he had this Friday with Raimondo to reaffirm Brazil’s interest in deepening its economic and trade partnership with the United States and in advancing negotiations for the free trade agreement.

Brazil and the United States announced in July 2019 the start of negotiations to reach a bilateral free trade agreement taking advantage of the affinity between the Brazilian president, far-right leader Jair Bolsonaro, and then U.S. president, Donald Trump.

The negotiations were initiated by Guedes and then U.S. Secretary of Commerce, Wilbur Ross, after Trump himself, of whom Bolsonaro declared himself an admirer, publicly admitted his interest in the agreement.

But the matter was left in limbo after Biden of the Democratic Party defeated Trump, of the Republican Party, in the U.S. presidential election.

Guedes took advantage of Friday’s conversation to mention the matter and recall that “bilateral trade and investment flows have the potential for expansion,” according to the ministry’s statement. The minister “conveyed the interest in working together towards a modern and ambitious free trade agreement,” the note adds.

The official recalled that the two countries share a series of important and dynamic bilateral activities.

Likewise, the press release adds, “he commented on the main recent advances in the economy and highlighted that Brazil’s possible entry into the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) would contribute directly to the modernization of the country, with benefits for consumers and business sectors in Brazil and the U.S.”

On the environmental agenda, an issue that has generated criticism from Biden to Bolsonaro’s policies for weakening the fight against deforestation in the Amazon, Guedes recalled the large participation of renewable sources, mainly hydroelectric, in U.the Brazilian energy matrix.

“The minister reaffirmed that Brazil has a significant number of activities in renewable energy and competitive and sustainable agriculture and that it is willing to expand its partnership with the United States in this area,” the note concluded.

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