The Business of Export: Brazil's Trade with America

 Brazil is the world's 26th-largest producer and importer, even though foreign trade only makes up about 39% of its GDP (World Bank, most recent data available). The country also has a huge amount of economic potential (WTO). Brazil mostly sends out petroleum oils (16.7%), soy beans (14%), iron ores (8.6%), maize and corn (3.7%), and cane or beet sugar (3.3%). On the other hand, it mostly brings in petroleum oils (11.9%), fertilizers (8.6%), tractor and car parts and accessories (2.8%), insecticides (2.4%), and petroleum gas and other gaseous hydrocarbons (2.3% - data from Comtrade).

Brazil's top export partners in 2022

Brazil's top export partners in 2022 were China (26.2%), the US (11.4%), Argentina (4.6%), the Netherlands (3.6%), and Spain (2.9%). Its top import partners were China (23.2%), the US (18.6%), Argentina (4.7%), Germany (4.6%), and India (3.3%). The world's ninth-largest economy and the biggest in Latin America, Brazil is still pretty closed off compared to other big economies. It has a low trade penetration and a low number of exporters compared to its population (about the same as Norway, which has about 5 million people compared to Brazil's 213 million). But the country has been making changes to improve trade. For example, by improving its electronic data exchange system, the time it takes for both exporting and importing documents to be in order has been cut down. The EU is also working on a free trade deal with the Mercosur countries as part of their Association deal talks. This is because the EU is Brazil's second-largest trading partner. Besides that, the bloc has also been thinking about making a two-way deal with China to make it more modern and open to other parts of the world. Additionally, Brazil and Argentina have been trying to improve trade relations and create a single currency since January 2023, when Lula became president of Brazil after being elected. Brazil has a positive trade balance, but it has been going down over the last few years because the prices of raw materials have gone down, energy imports have gone up, and Brazilian goods have become less competitive. According to the most recent figures from the WTO, Brazil bought goods worth USD 292.2 billion and sold them for USD 334.1 billion in 2022. The country also bought services worth USD 79.4 billion and sold them for USD 39.4 billion. The World Bank thought that Brazil's trade balance would be positive by 0.8% of GDP for the whole year, up from 0.9% the years before. The Ministry of Development, Industry, Trade, and Services says that as of November 2023, Brazil's exports were worth USD 300 billion and its imports were worth USD 213.5 billion.

The United States and Brazil have one of the most important trade and economic ties in the world

They are both the biggest economies and democracies in the Western Hemisphere. It is eighth in terms of the amount of things we trade with Brazil. The United States sent $63 billion worth of goods and services to Brazil in 2011. These products supported about 300,000 jobs in the United States. Brazil is becoming a major player in the world stage and an economic giant. Brazil has the sixth largest economy in the world, with a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of almost $2.5 trillion in 2011. It makes up more than 60% of South America's overall GDP. The US wants to strengthen its economic ties with Brazil by building on their strengths, sharing our goals, and hearing what their active private sector stakeholders have to say. Investment flows between the US and Brazil help create jobs, boost exports, and make our total economic relationship stronger. Brazil was one of the biggest Latin American sources of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the United States, with $15.5 billion in capital investments made there by the end of 2010. Some early figures from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis show that Brazilian companies invested almost $3.7 billion in the U.S. in 2011. FDI from Brazil to the US is mostly directed toward energy, such as coal, gas, oil, and alternative and green energy sources. Other top areas of FDI include manufacturing metals, plastics, textiles, and building and construction materials. Brazilian companies with U.S. businesses hired 39,000 U.S. workers and sent $2.6 billion worth of goods out of the U.S. in 2009. As Brazil's economy grows, there will be a lot of room to make these amounts bigger. From January 2003 to February 2012, 81 deals were announced that would spend a total of $3.37 billion on capital projects and create 8,110 jobs in the United States. Through the U.S. Commercial Service and the National Export Initiative, the U.S. is trying to make it easier for more products to Brazil that will help create jobs. Here are some recent examples of success:

A fire truck company called Rosenbauer America was awarded a $42 million deal to provide 80 fire trucks to Infraero, Brazil's airport body

The deal was made in August 2011, and the trucks will be built in Minnesota.

Last year, the Brazilian company Boldini, S.A. gave the Florida-based Eastern Shipbuilding Group a $241 million deal to build five ships. The project got a loan security from the U.S. Maritime Administration. At the Eastern Shipbuilding plant in Panama City, Florida, 300 new jobs will be created because of the deal. Swanson Industries, based in West Virginia, makes and fixes long-stroke cylinders used in the offshore oil business. In October 2010, Swanson made a deal with Superpesa, a Brazilian company, which led to a repair service contract worth $1 million in sales for Swanson. Three GE engines were sold to two wind farms in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Norte for $30 million in March 2012.