U.S., BRAZIL PUSH FOR A 2020 MINI DEAL: U.S. and Brazilian officials are working on a deal covering trade facilitation, digital trade and regulatory practices, with a target for the end of the year, a top Brazilian diplomat said Thursday at an event hosted by the Atlantic Council.
The goal of the mini deal is to hopefully reach a “more meaningful commercial agreement at some point in near future,” said Nestor Forster, who is chargé d’affaires at Brazil’s embassy in Washington and has been nominated for the ambassador.
Here’s the deal: Trump has repeatedly used the “mini” deal as a way to deepen economic ties with other countries, like China and Japan, without having to deal with congressional approval. The mini deal is expected to be wrapped up by August, two sources familiar with the talks told Morning Trade.
The current talks do not include reducing tariffs on agricultural and manufactured goods or barriers to trade in services and government procurement because those are being left for the second phase of negotiations on an actual free trade agreement, Forster said.
Advice for U.S.: The United States should craft an approach that fosters “cooperation and healthy competition wherever possible and not allow rivalry to poison the entire relationship. Ideally, this competition will take place within an agreed multilateral framework of rules and norms of the kind that govern the United Nations and the World Trade Organization.”
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