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Brazil
May Take Argentina to WTO If Trade Talks Fail
By Iuri Dantas and Carla Simoes
(Bloomberg) -- Brazil may file a complaint at the
World Trade Organization against Argentina because
of its delays in issuing import licenses for
Brazilian goods, Foreign Trade Chamber Secretary
Lytha Spindola said.
Brazil is concerned by a 43 percent annual drop in
exports of textiles, shoes, home appliances,
furniture and some car parts to Argentina in the
first half of 2009, Spindola said in a Bloomberg
Television interview today.
Brazilian officials claim their Argentine
counterparts are taking too long to issue permits to
import goods, trimming demand for Brazilian
products. Brazilian exports to Argentina totaled
$17.6 billion last year.
“The government is studying reciprocity measures and
may even go to the WTO if talks fail,” Spindola said
in Brasilia.
The countries are scheduled to meet July 14,
Spindola said. Failure to reach an agreement may
prompt Brazil to similarly delay the issuance of
permits for the purchase of Argentine goods,
Spindola said. Such a move wouldn’t be done unless
authorized by an international arbiter, such as the
WTO, she said.
Argentina was Brazil’s second-biggest trading
partner from the 1980s until April last year, when
China overtook Argentina. Brazil and Argentina, the
biggest and second-biggest South American economies,
created the Mercosur trade block in 1991 along with
Paraguay and Uruguay to boost trade.
License Requirements
Argentina started to require non-automatic licenses
for Brazilian products in October last year as the
economic crisis reduced Argentine exports.
World Trade Organization rules require that such
licenses be issued in less than 60 days and
Argentina isn’t complying, Spindola said.
Brazil’s total exports to Argentina fell to $4.9
billion in the first six months of 2009 from $8.6
billion in same period a year ago, the Trade
Ministry said in a report this week. Argentine
exports to Brazil fell 19.5 percent to $5.0 billion
from $6.2 billion.
The Argentine Production Ministry is seeking a quick
solution to the licensing delays for textiles,
furniture and tires, said a spokesman at the
ministry, who declined to provide his name in
accordance with internal policies.
Licenses for shoes, toys and home appliances are
being reviewed by the Secretary of Interior
Commerce. Once approved, they will be sent to the
Production Ministry, the spokesman said.
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