CNI: trade barriers affect half of exports to the EU and China

Economist Cesar Bergo explains that Brazil’s export basket is basically made up of primary products from agribusiness, mining and oil extraction activities.

“The prices of these commodities have risen a lot in the market, but it turns out that the dollar has been devaluing and making Brazilian products very competitive, because Brazil has both mineral reserves and agricultural production, and it ends up that somehow the cost of these products becomes cheap — especially for the European community, where the production rate is high, and for China too”, he informs.

Trade barriers

The economist highlights that trade barriers are often imposed, with tariffs and fees for Brazilian products.

Already 3rd edition of the Report on Trade Barriers Identified by the Brazilian Private Sector, prepared by the CNI in conjunction with 20 industry sector entities, 85 trade barriers were identified. This number represents an increase of 10% compared to the 77 recorded in the previous edition.

According to the CNI, in recent years there has been an increase in both number and type. These practices can be adopted at various stages of the foreign trade process, such as the imposition of excessive requirements when the goods leave the country of origin or when the product enters the buyer’s market.

In the survey, 22 sanitary and phytosanitary barriers (SPS), 17 technical regulations (TBT), 17 import taxes, nine sustainability barriers, 5 import licensing barriers and 15 other measures were listed, such as import tariff quotas and subsidies.

European Union (18), China (7) and Japan (7) are the destinations with the most identified barriers.

CNI’s International Trade and Integration Manager, Constanza Negri, explains that the Confederation identifies obstacles imposed by other countries and notifies the Brazilian government so that joint monitoring and negotiations can be carried out with a view to eliminating these barriers.

“The growth of Brazilian exports and the increase in participation in world exports depend on two major measures: those linked to domestic issues, competitiveness, and access to markets, with a greater share of Brazilian products in other economies. It is this second This is where the barriers report comes in, with a considerable contribution so that the Brazilian government has qualified inputs for a proactive and persistent diplomacy strategy to eliminate these obstacles”, informs Negri.

According to the CNI, three examples of progress in eliminating trade barriers were:

• “The end of declaration requirements for textiles in Argentina;
• The elimination of excessive restrictions on the cosmetics trade in China;
• The fall of excessive food and beverage labeling requirements in Peru.”