The executive secretary of the Brazil-China Entrepreneurial Council, Renato Amorim, said he believes in an amicable settlement between the two countries on the question of safeguards against imported goods from China.
He informed that, all told, the Brazil sectors that are facing commercial difficulties and are concerned about the increase in Chinese imports, account for less than 5% of the volume of goods China exports to Brazil.
According to Amorim, Brazil receives only 0.4% of all that China exports. "We are dealing with a very small value for both China and Brazil, so that it makes no sense for China to steer a collision course with Brazil, because the political cost would be much greater than the commercial dimensions of what we are discussing.
"Therefore, I think that now, with the adoption of a tougher stance by the Brazilian government, it will be possible to renew talks with the Chinese government and reach an understanding," the secretary commented.
Amorim said that, for the Brazil-China Entrepreneurial Council, the regulation of the safeguards by the Brazilian government is "a gesture that was already being anticipated, in case the negotiations with China did not lead to any immediate solution."
And, indeed, "they didn’t, even though the Brazilian and Chinese governments don’t rule out the possibility of continuing to discuss the matter," the secretary went on to say. He pointed out that Brazil is assured the right to safeguards by the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Since Brazil had failed to regulate the measure in the four years during which China has been part of the WTO, the option was first to negotiate with the Chinese, he explained. Amorim, who is a career diplomat on leave, headed the economic section of the Brazilian embassy in Beijing between 2001 and 2003.
"The expectation is to set a limitation on Chinese exports to Brazil that will be beneficial to both countries and avert the need to apply safeguards," he emphasized.
The Brazil-China Entrepreneurial Council was created in May, 2004, during president Lula’s visit to Beijing. Its current membership comprises 80 firms from the two countries.
Agência Brasil
