This was a big week for trade! Not only did we witness the long awaited passage of the three Free Trade Agreements, the Generalized System of Preferences, and the Trade Adjustment Assistance, but it also marked the visit of key high-level Brazilian officials to Washington, DC: Brazilian Secretary of Foreign Trade Tatiana Prazeres and Brazilian Ambassador to the World Trade Organization (WTO) Roberto Azevedo.

The Brazil-U.S. Business Council (BUSBC) hosted meetings between the officials and the private sector to foster the discussion of the trade and economic relationship between the United States and Brazil.

Brazil’s Permanent Representative to the WTO Ambassador Roberto Azevedo discussed with members of BUSBC and the Brazil Trade Action Coalition the state of play of the WTO Cotton case.  The U.S. private sector is pushing hard for a definitive solution to the case in the context of the 2012 Farm Bill, bringing the U.S. into compliance as committed to in the temporary framework agreement reached between the two countries in 2010.  The definitive solution will permanently remove the potential for nearly $1 billion in retaliation by Brazil against U.S. goods and intellectual property resulting from U.S. subsidies to its cotton farmers exceeding previously agreed-to international limits.

Brazil’s Foreign Trade Secretary met with the leadership and members of BUSBC to discuss status of Brazil’s trade relationship with the United States. Secretary Prazeres also answered questions from BUSBC members on recently erected Brazilian industrial policies including the Bigger Brazil Plan and the country’s new auto policy.

The increasing engagement of these high-level officials in U.S. private sector dialogues signals a new level of public-private cooperation in the bilateral space to address longstanding trade barriers holding back the potential of the bilateral relationship.