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Paulo Roberto Pupo, superintendent of ABIMCI (Brazilian Association of Mechanically Processed Wood Industry), said he had left the interministerial meeting with the government with “the feeling of past message”.
Exporters heard by the report fear loss of markets • Jesus Carlos/Estadão Content
From last Tuesday (15) here sees, however, little progress in commercial discussions with the United States and “a deterioration in diplomatic relations.”
After US President Donald Trump announced an import rate of 50% for all Brazilian imported, the team of Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (PT) was gathered in an interministerial collegiate who has sought dialogue with the private sector to find ways to beat the tariff.
Pupo sees a “perfect” initiative by the team led by the vice president and Minister of Development, Industry, Commerce and Services, Geraldo Alckmin (PSB). However, he believes that there has been little evolution since the conversations and warns that “with each passing day this timer gets even redder” for some sectors.
“I said ‘minister, let’s think about the worst possible hypothesis, arrive on the 1st without agreement, how do we do what is in water?’ A question that is unanswered. The government absorbed, it was expected to go after it, but it did not happen, and the feeling is that it got worse with political statements. ”
Executive’s efforts for an agreement have faced two main obstacles: the difficulty in finding an official interlocutor in the White House and the political tension between the Republican and the petista.
The business community argues that discussions are based on technical and commercial issues, seeking to avoid as much as possible the ideological Rusga between Lula and Trump.
“There is nothing to do with the political fight, we have no alternative, we need a government rescue until some negotiations happen,” he told the CNN Eduardo Lobo, president of Abipesca (Brazilian Association of Pescados Industries), adding that he will send a letter to the President of the Republic asking for a credit line of up to R $ 900 million to be able to maintain the operational health of the sector.
Lobo points out that the exporters were “very well received” by Vice President Alckmin, but indicates that the main election of the productive sector to the government was not attended, which was immediately asking for the postponement of the entry into force of the fare, scheduled for August 1.
Pupo explains that extension is necessary to give the negotiators and logistics diplomatic breath for exporters to find out how they will adapt to the tariff.
According to ABIMCI superintendent, the transition from industry production to other markets is “practically impossible” due to the time required to readjust the standards and certifications of a US product.
The president of Abipesca ponders that “from the meeting here, [o cenário] He climbed, is tensioned. We entrepreneurs are watching with tied hands without any possibility of contributing or intervening what is happening. ”
“The government has even suggested that the private sector pressure importers to put pressure on the US government, but this for the fishing sector does not work. The American importer of fish will not call the president to download tariffs, will buy cheaper from the competitor,” he warns.
The president of Abipepes regrets that, after taking the space of Brazilian fish at the US dining table, the national producer will hardly be able to occupy this “space conquered with years of investment in quality, competitiveness and continuous supply”.
70% of fish exported by the sector go to the US. Today, Brazilian fish has been embargoed from entering the European market since 2017. Lobo sees a prospect of improvement in the scenario with the Mercosur-UE Free Trade Agreement (European Union), however, says that an urgent action is needed to ensure the survival of the sector.
Paulo Roberto Pupo stresses that “the next few days will be crucial, or something happens, if not freezes the sector, there is no way to run.”
Brazil’s loggers depend strongly on exports to the United States, with some of their companies dedicating 100% of their productions to Americans. The sector began to force collective vacations and projects the need for layoffs to be able to stay without sales to the US.
At the moment, the ABIMCI Superintendent sees the business community as “hostage to negotiation, passengers in this car.” To strengthen it, it argues that technical arguments are worked out, such as the complementarity between the Brazilian and North American productive guidelines.
