The acting Brazilian Minister of Development, Márcio Fortes de Almeida, affirmed that the Brazil-Argentina Bilateral Commission group responsible for the automobile will meet on July 29, in Buenos Aires, to discuss the Mercosur’s policy for the sector.
Vehicle imports account for approximately half of Argentina’s trade deficit with Brazil, Fortes observed. The Argentinean Ambassador to Brazil, Juan Pablo Lohlé, estimates that this deficit comes to about US$ 1.9 billion.
According to Fortes, representatives of the auto parts sector met in São Paulo on July 8. Automobile manufacturers are also expected to get together before the 29th to discuss what will happen to commercial relations between Brazil and Argentina after January 1, 2006, when the free trade agreement on automobiles goes into effect.
“We have to define the Mercosur’s position in order to see what our relationship is with our associates and to define negotiations with the European Union,” Fortes commented.
The Argentinean Ambassador, Lohlé, stated that Argentina’s trade deficit with Brazil could reach US$ 2.5 billion by year’s end.
“This depends a lot on the composition of our trade, which centers on the exchange of primary products and manufactured industrial goods,” he observed.
In the Ambassador’s view, the trade imbalance between the two countries is related to automobile exports, a point on which Fortes agrees.
According to Lohlé, the Argentinean government is engaged in discussions with Brazilian officials on a policy to attain a more balanced level of trade.
ABr – www.radiobras.gov.br