The United States and Brazil Strengthen Trade and Economic Ties During President's Visit

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March 25, 2011

President Obama’s recent visit to Brazil, March 19-21, 2011, proved fruitful for U.S.- Brazil trade and economic relations, placed renewed focus on the relationship between the two countries. Representatives from the United States and Brazil signed the U.S.-Brazil Trade and Economic Cooperation Agreement (TECA), which entered into force on March 19. TECA establishes a new United States-Brazil Commission on Economic and Trade Relations, which the Office United States Trade Representative and the Brazilian ministries of foreign affairs and trade will co-chair. The Commission will address issues such as facilitating and liberalizing bilateral trade and investment, cooperating in multilateral trade fora, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, technical trade barriers, intellectual property rights, regulatory issues, information and communication technology, and trade in services. The Commission may also include private-sector representatives.

 

President Obama and Brazilian President Rousseff also completed an agreement for formalizing a U.S.-Brazil Economic and Financial Dialogue, seeking to coordinate positions on global economic policy and to further economic cooperation. In addition to establishing these outlets for dialogue, the U.S. and Brazil signed an Air Transport Agreement which will allow for an expansion of air services between the two signatories. Finally, President Obama and President Rousseff agreed to launch a Strategic Energy Dialogue to build on the work of the U.S.-Brazil Binational Energy Working Group. This dialogue will focus on energy-related issues, including safe and sustainable development of Brazil’s deepwater oil and gas resources and biofuels.