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Credit, Zach Gibson
Democratic parliamentarians criticized the agreement between the US and Brazil
The announcement of a new trade pact between the governments of Brazil and the United States, last Monday (19), was received with harsh criticism and threats by members of the commission responsible for public spending and tariff regulations of the Chamber of Deputies of North America. American.
In the assessment of the Democratic parliamentarians at the head of the Tax Affairs Committee (“Committee on Means and Ways”), the three issues of the new protocol, signed 15 days before the US presidential elections, would be a “slap in the face to the legislators “, “they mock”. and circumvent “the American Congress, and” tarnish the reputation of the United States “around the world.
Described in the United States as the oldest and most important in the legislative branch, the commission has been controlled since last year by opponents of Donald Trump. Behind the scenes, they have said they were caught off guard by the announcement and are in retaliation, BBC News Brazil has learned.
The Brazilian government, in turn, says that the commercial and economic cooperation protocol is “suprapartist”, the result of dialogue with all those involved and brings “mutual and reciprocal” benefits.
According to Itamaraty, the Bolsonaro government hopes “that the package will constitute the basis of a broad trade agreement to be negotiated in the future between the two largest economies in the American continent.”
The road, promises the opposition, must not be easy.
voltage
The political and commercial rapprochement between Brazil and the United States has been the subject of tension in Washington since the inauguration of Jair Bolsonaro, but the temperature reached its maximum point in June of this year, when 24 American deputies signed an unpublished letter in which they indicated that they would veto “any trade agreement or the expansion of trade alliances with Brazil by President Bolsonaro.”
Credit, Alan Santos / Presidency of the Republic
Trump and Bolsonaro have signed several bilateral agreements since Bolsonaro’s visit to the United States (photo)
The letter was responded to by the Brazilian government, which classified the text as a result of “misinformation and misrepresentation.”
However, in private meetings at the White House and the Plateau, the letter was interpreted as a severe blow to an eventual free trade agreement between the two countries. The main reason is that any association that involves the renegotiation of commercial rates depends on the approval of Congress (in the United States, currently, the House of Representatives is led by Democrats, while the Senate has a Republican majority).
On the occasion, the now Brazilian ambassador in Washington, Néstor Forster, defended “the solid record of respect for human and labor rights and the protection of the dignity of workers” in Brazil and underlined “the commitment of President Bolsonaro to the protection and the develop”. sustainable “.
Four months later, the main signatories of the June letter return to the scene and accuse Trump and Bolsonaro of acting “unilaterally”, “deteriorating the relationship between the Executive and Congress.”
Described by the mediators as a nod to businessmen on both sides, the recently announced acts promise to facilitate trade and have the potential to reduce costs and expand business between Brazil and the United States.
However, they start from a fundamental principle: there are no changes in the current customs duties imposed by the two countries on their content. Thus, the treaties could be concluded without the need for the signature of deputies and senators.
If, on the one hand, the strategy accelerated the process and consolidated itself as another chapter in the rapprochement between the Trump and Bolsonaro governments, on the other hand, as expected, it aroused the ire of opposition politicians.
‘Bargain’
“With this trade agreement, the Trump administration bypassed Congress to reward a Brazilian government that does not respect basic human rights, the environment and its own workers,” said Chairman of the Tax Affairs Committee, Richard E. Neal.
“Giving President Bolsonaro ammunition to suggest that the United States supports his behavior tarnishes our nation’s reputation as a country that requires our trading partners to respect human rights and the democratic rule of law,” the Democratic deputy continued.
A member of the commission for more than 10 years, Neal is a federal congressman for the state of Massachusetts, where the largest Brazilian community in the United States is located.
Credit, Alan Santos / PR
Bolsonaro made the United States under Trump a priority partner for Brazil
In a note, he further stated that “President Trump and the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) have chosen to unilaterally move forward with this agreement and ignored the strong opposition of business leaders in Congress to such action.” .
The proximity of the US election, which in the next 3 days will define whether the United States will be led in the next 4 years by Donald Trump or by the Democratic rival Joe Biden, also entered the debate on the agreements with Brazil.
“In what may be the 11th hour of the Trump administration,” Richard Neal said, “the USTR mocked Congress to undermine the values and position of the United States in the world.”
‘Pseudo-editor’
The criticism was reinforced by Earl Blumenauer, head of the subcommittee on commerce of the United States House of Representatives, linked to the commission headed by Neal.
He went further than his party colleague and classified Bolsonaro as a “pseudo-editor.”
“President Jair Bolsonaro’s terrible record on human rights, the environment and corruption is the reason that the Democrats on the Committee have long opposed a trade deal or expanded economic partnership with Brazil,” Blumenauer said, also in a note. .
“The actions of the USTR are not just a slap in the face to the legislators who pointed out these concerns, but also a bad deal for the United States. At the same time that we obtain minimal and unworkable measures to facilitate trade with a pseudo-dictator, Bolsonaro gains legitimacy and capacity to foster a closer relationship with the most powerful nation in the world, “he continued.
“This cheapens our relations and reduces our moral position in the world,” the MP continued.
Today, according to its official website, the United States House Tax Affairs Committee is comprised of 24 Democratic and 17 Republican MPs.
Founded in 1802, it is responsible for defining federal spending on public policy and drafting rules on tariffs and trade agreements in the United States.
Historically, the group has brought together important politicians in the country: 8 of its former members became presidents of the United States, 21 were presidents of the House of Deputies and 4 became justices of the Supreme Court of the United States.
The approval of its members depends on all the possible commercial agreements signed by the United States, including the so-called “fast tracks”, or treaties that do not go through amendments in Congress.
Supraparty agreements
Last Tuesday, in a conversation with the Brazilian press in Washington, the Brazilian ambassador to the United States played down rumors about a possible democratic response to the accords, which include “denunciation clauses” that, in theory, would allow their revocation.
Questioned by BBC News Brazil, Nestor Forster said that a possible revocation “seems unlikely.”
“It does not seem likely to me because support for the agreement is suprapart and there was permanent work by private sector personnel, who supported us a lot. For example, the Chamber of Commerce, have regular and routine conversations with the benches of the two parties, including with the staff of the House budget committee, whose Democratic members sent that letter to the trade representative opposing a comprehensive agreement ”, said the ambassador.
Credit, Press release / Itamaraty
Brazil’s ambassador to Washington, Nestor Forster, says the US Congress did not retaliate against Brazil because an agreement was signed with the support of the American business community.
“We at the embassy responded by trying to respond to two or three points that were perhaps treated in an exaggerated way and trying to clear the ground for a conversation. And we invite parliamentarians to speak with us on any of these issues so that we can provide clarifications that we deem appropriate, undoing misperceptions, exaggerations and, in the end, agreeing to disagree “.
In the evaluation of the head of Brazilian diplomacy in the US, the recently signed treaties are “public policies adopted sovereignly by the Brazilian government, a democratically elected government, with a vibrant Parliament, a diligent society, a more than vibrant press” .
Regarding the debate with the opponents, he says that “this is done almost routinely.”
“I do not see any difficulties, I do not see a movement that wants to undo this (the agreement), because obviously it is a type of agreement that is win-win, the advantages are mutual, reciprocal and both from the private sector in Brazil and from the state side. United is very satisfied, “he continued.
What the package says
Signed by Itamaraty, the Ministry of Economy and the Office of the United States Trade Representative, the Protocol of Transparency and Trade Rules foresees, fundamentally, the abolition of non-tariff barriers in bilateral trade.
Although in practice they do not reduce the fees imposed on imports and exports of products, the measures could reduce current expenses of exporters by up to 20%, according to spokespersons for the Brazilian business community.
The main changes are based on three main axes.
The first provides for the simplification or extinction of bureaucratic procedures, known in business jargon as trade facilitation.
The law then includes the adoption of “good regulatory practices”, which prohibit, for example, the regulatory agencies of each country from changing the product rules without the exporters of the other country being able to express themselves in advance.
Finally, the agreements detail the adoption of anti-corruption measures between the two parties.
“Together, these instruments demonstrate the commitment of the two countries to the fundamental elements necessary for fair trade practices: the publication of information, giving interested parties the opportunity to provide input on the rules, the establishment of efficient and transparent processes on the border and vigilance against corruption ”, reported Itamaraty, in a note.
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