Amcham defends avoiding retaliation and calls for dialogue between Brazil and the USA

The American Chamber of Commerce in Brazil (Amcham) argues that the adoption of retaliatory measures by Brazil in relation to trade tariffs imposed by the United States should be avoided.

This Thursday (13), the federal government announced the formal opening of the process to assess whether the imposition of tariffs against Brazilian exports will be responded to based on the Economic Reciprocity Law. The opening of the process does not mean that Brazil has decided to immediately apply countertariffs or other retaliatory measures against North American products. At this point, the government is beginning a formal analysis to verify whether the US measures justify the adoption of responses provided for in Brazilian legislation.

In view of the opening of the process, Amcham calls for the intensification of high-level dialogues and negotiations between the two governments to reduce overtaxation and avoid new restrictions.

"Amcham considers that the adoption of possible countermeasures should be avoided, given the considerable risk of increasing costs for companies and consumers, affecting production chains and investments and leading to a commercial and political escalation in the relationship with the United States, reducing the space for dialogue and making it more difficult to reach a negotiated solution", says the entity's note.

According to the organization, a survey showed that 90.5% of companies defend diplomatic and commercial dialogue with the United States; and only 3.2% want the adoption of reciprocity measures.

Amcham considers it essential that the strategy is conducted with balance, moderation and careful assessment of impacts, in addition to the participation of the business sector.

Earlier, the Minister of Finance, Dario Durigan, said that he will listen to Brazilian and foreign businesspeople about the possible impacts of applying Brazil's Reciprocity Law, in response to the tariff.

Amcham is made up of companies from both countries that are interested in joint commercial relations.