What are the trade protection policies of various countries towards Brazil?

Brazil prepares to sue for protectionist clauses on buying American goods February 08, 2009 15:56 According to Xinhua News Agency, Brazilian Foreign Minister Amorim said on February 6 that the new economic stimulus plan recently passed by the US Congress contains protectionist clauses on "buying American goods", and Brazil may resort to the World Trade Organization (WTO). Amorim said in an interview with Brazilian national television on the same day: "Although this involves complicated legal analysis, we are taking action, and suing the WTO is one of the options." Last week, the US Congress passed a new economic stimulus plan with a total amount of $787 billion, but there are provisions requiring that the steel and finished products used in the projects supported by the plan should be produced in the United States. Amorim criticized this, saying that this move by the United States is like taking painkillers, treating the symptoms rather than the root cause, and sending a wrong signal at a time when the global economy is struggling to recover. Brazil is a major exporter of mineral products in the world and plays an important role in the Doha Round of WTO negotiations. On the Doha Round negotiations, Amorim said that the Doha Round negotiations are not hopeless, but it is also very difficult to push forward the negotiations again. WTO considers the trade policies of Japan and Brazil, and free trade and protectionism are unbearable.

Ambassador Sun Zhenyu said that in the face of many uncertainties in the world economy, it is urgent for all countries to make joint efforts to prevent the rise of trade protectionism.

When this spring began in the cold wind of strikes, layoffs and bad news, the WTO's trade policy review also kicked off in a different atmosphere. At the end of February and the beginning of March, the trade policy review of Japan and Brazil was held at the WTO headquarters in Geneva. Since Japan and Brazil are the second and tenth largest economies in the world respectively, in a sense, they represent the two camps of developed countries and emerging economies respectively. Against the background of the worsening global economic crisis and the rise of trade protectionism, their deliberations naturally attract attention.

Since the beginning of the year, WTO Director-General Lamy has been calling for vigilance and containment of trade protectionism on various occasions. On February 18, Lamy accepted an exclusive interview with reporters in Japan on the review of Japan's trade policy. He said that Japan is one of the biggest beneficiaries of the open multilateral trading system and should play a greater role in confronting the threat of protectionism. Otherwise, Japan is likely to become a victim of protectionism. Lamy said: "Protectionism is not a matter of religious belief, ideology or philosophy, but an objective reality."

Ambassador Sun Zhenyu, Permanent Mission of China to the WTO, told reporters: "China supports the WTO's trade policy review mechanism, actively participates in the deliberations of WTO members, and raised its own concerns during the deliberations. At present, the world is experiencing the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression in the 1930s. Faced with many uncertainties in the world economy, it is urgent for all countries to work together to prevent the rise of trade protectionism. "

Under the crisis, it is more important to adhere to an open trade policy. According to the WTO's review report on Japan's trade policy, since the last review in 2007, Japan has taken a number of measures to further relax trade and investment restrictions. Since the global financial crisis broke out in September 2008, the Japanese government has not introduced new policies and measures to protect its domestic market. In fact, Japan has made it clear at G20 Summit, APEC Summit and trilateral high-level meeting among China, Japan and South Korea that in the next 12 months, it will not set up new trade and investment barriers to stimulate its exports, implement new import and export restrictions, or implement various decisions that are inconsistent with WTO principles. WTO members affirmed this.

However, the report also pointed out that the labor productivity of agriculture and other sectors lags behind other major industrialized countries, and relatively protecting the agricultural sector from foreign competition will become the main obstacle to Japan's sustained economic growth. According to the report, the medium and long-term growth prospects of Japan's economy will depend on its ability to achieve further structural reform while balancing monetary and fiscal policies.

According to the report, the Japanese economy is in recession, and its depth and breadth are still unpredictable. According to the latest revised data of March 12 released by the Cabinet Office of Japan, Japan's gross domestic product (GDP) decreased at an annual rate of 12. 1% in the fourth quarter of last year, which is the first time that Japan's economy experienced double-digit negative growth in 24 years. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) predicts that Japan's economic growth rate will be -2.6% this year.

As Lamy has repeatedly stressed, trade protectionism mainly hits those countries whose economies depend on exports. "If you restrict imports, others will restrict your exports." For an economy like Japan, which relies heavily on external demand, export disconnection and yen appreciation are fatal weaknesses. The report warns that the negative impact of external factors on Japan's economy is mainly reflected in exports, and the appreciation of the yen and the unfavorable settlement of trade in yen may further worsen Japan's export situation. According to the statistics of the Cabinet Office of Japan, during this year 1, Japan's exports plummeted by 46%.

The United States demands more market opening.

Although the "Buy American" clause has been raging and the image of the United States itself has been damaged under the pretext of revitalizing the economy and engaging in trade protection, it is still unambiguous in urging Japan to further open its market. David Shack, Deputy Permanent Representative of the United States to the WTO, pointed out that under the current crisis conditions, Japan's position in the world economy should open its domestic market more to foreign investment.

Among OECD countries, Japan attracts less foreign direct investment, accounting for only 3% of Japan's average annual GDP. A typical example is that in April last year, the Japanese government restricted British investment funds from increasing their shares in Japan Power Development Corporation for the first time after the war on the grounds of national security.

In terms of government procurement, the WTO report pointed out that although Japan is a member of the WTO Agreement on Government Procurement, the proportion of foreign buyers participating in Japanese government procurement bidding in 2006 was only 3. 1%, which was lower than 3.7% in 2004. The United States is "very concerned." Shack pointed out that it is difficult for foreign suppliers to win the bid in Japanese government procurement activities because there are many barriers to entry, including lack of transparency, strict qualification examination, artificially manipulated bidding and extensive use of exclusive bidding.

In terms of service industry, WTO welcomes the progress of relevant reforms in Japan, especially the financial service industry, and the government gives priority to improving transparency. However, Shack accused that since the last trade policy review, although Japan Post has been privatized, some traditional retail businesses have not been opened to foreign companies. At present, the Japanese government still holds shares in Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Company, Japan Tobacco Company and some commercial banks, and exerts influence on various semi-official institutions.

The service industry accounts for two-thirds of Japan's GDP and 70% of the employed population. However, relevant surveys show that there is a big gap in the openness between Japan's service industry and manufacturing industry. The openness of the former, such as wholesale and retail, transportation and warehousing, hotel catering and so on, lags far behind that of the United States. Shaq said: "This at least shows that Japan does not encourage competition in the service sector."

According to the WTO report, the Japanese government's support for agriculture is higher than the average level of OECD countries, but its labor productivity is less than a quarter of Japan's national average. In 2008, the import tariff of agricultural products in Japan was as high as 17. 1%, while the import tariff of industrial products was only 3.5%. Subsidies to farmers account for nearly 65,438+0% of the country's average annual GDP, while agricultural production contributes only 65,438+0.2% to economic growth.

Some members believe that the Japanese government's insistence on protecting its agriculture has affected its more constructive role in bilateral, regional and multilateral trade negotiations. They criticized the bilateral free trade agreements signed by Japan, believing that these agreements limited Japan's promised agricultural liberalization. These agreements "institutionalize the protection of agricultural products through a large number of tax numbers".

When expressing members' respective concerns, Shack accused Japan of prohibiting the export of American beef to Japan without scientific basis. For fear of the spread of mad cow disease, Japan is currently only allowed to import calves less than 2 1 month old from the United States. Shack stressed that the World Organization for Animal Health has listed the United States as a country with "controllable risk" of mad cow disease, which means that beef grown in the United States at any age is safe and Japan should allow imports.

On the other hand, India severely demands that Japan lift the strict restrictions on genetic drugs, fruits, vegetables and seafood in India. Ravi Bandjar, India's deputy representative, complained that Indian exporters had encountered excessive restrictive trade barriers in Japan. For example, Japanese authorities require mandatory bioequivalence tests for each genetic product, and the product inventory should reach more than five years, which makes it impossible for Indian genetic products with high quality and low price to gain a foothold in the Japanese market. In addition, strict animal and plant quarantine on Indian fruits and vegetables and excessive restrictions on seafood import quotas have suppressed India's export expectations.

China also raised his concerns about Japanese animal and plant health regulations, technical barriers to trade, tariffs and trade in services.

WTO Director-General Lamy suggested that Japan solve the market access problem of agricultural products through mutual concessions. Lamy told Japan News Agency that Japan should learn to give and take. In the latest text of Doha negotiations, 4% of "sensitive goods" of developed members can be exempted from concessions, while the proportion of Japan has reached 8%. This is good for Japan. "Agriculture is a sensitive topic for Japan", but all negotiators, whether developed or developing, have their own sensitivities and concerns. Lamy said: "I understand Japan's concerns in the field of agriculture, but there is no free lunch in the WTO."

Brazil may be the first country to emerge from the crisis.

Brazil's economic development track and current difficulties are quite representative among the emerging economies in the world. The WTO's trade policy review report specifically for Brazil pointed out that since 2004, Brazil's economy has grown at an average annual rate of over 4.5%, reaching 6% in the first half of 2008. This is mainly due to Brazil's strong domestic demand and favorable international environment.

However, the international financial tsunami interrupted Brazil's strong economic growth momentum. The shock wave caused by the collapse of Lehman Brothers Bank in the United States caused the financial market in Brazil to be agitated, the credit funds were short, the exchange rate of the US dollar soared, and the stock market value of the Sao Paulo Stock Exchange evaporated by 87 1 100 million reais. In the fourth quarter of last year, Brazil's economy declined by 3.6% and its foreign trade exports plummeted by nearly 20%.

In order to meet the current challenges, the WTO suggested that Brazil further reduce barriers, starting with reducing tariffs. According to the statistics of WTO, from 2004 to 2008, due to the increase of tariffs on non-agricultural products, the average tariff in Brazil increased from 10.4% to1.5%. The WTO also suggested that Brazil should open its imports to certain commodities, lower its domestic interest rate and provide more predictability for foreign direct investment, so as to encourage trade and investment and improve its competitiveness.

The European Union, Brazil's largest trading partner, requires Brazil to strengthen intellectual property protection and join the government procurement system of the WTO, so that multinational companies can compete in the local market. During the deliberation, China expressed concern about Brazil's increasing import tariffs on certain products, trade remedy measures and competition policies restricting imports.

The impact of the global crisis on Brazil's economy continues. However, compared with other countries, Brazil's economic decline is relatively small. According to the recent report of OECD, during this year 1, the comprehensive leading indicators of most emerging countries have declined to varying degrees. Among them, China decreased by 2. 1%, India decreased by 1%, Russia decreased by 3.3%, and only Brazil maintained a growth rate of 2.7%. Brazilian Finance Minister Mantega optimistically predicted that Brazil is the last country affected by the international economic crisis, but it is also possible to get out of the shadow of the crisis at the earliest.