Brasília – The minister of Foreign Relations of Brazil, Celso Amorim, defended on Friday (30) that all countries lobby against the United States congressmen so that new protectionist measures are not approved. "What we all have to do is lobby in the American Congress not for this or that, but for multilateral trade," said Amorim, in a press conference during the World Economic Forum, in Davos.
Amorim had been questioned about the measure, included by the US Congress in the package for economic stimulation by president Barack Obama, requiring that iron, steel and manufactured products included in the government package be produced in the United States. The package should be voted by the Senate next week.
"Evidently it is not a good sign. This must be approved by the Senate and also by president Obama, who will have the chance to veto it," added Amorim, recalling that the measure would be against the disposition, shown by Obama in a telephone call to president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, to conclude the current World Trade Organisation negotiation round tables. The Doha Rounds are aimed at eliminating subsidies offered by North Americans and Europeans to their products, distorting international trade.
"The problem of protectionism is that it may be the most contagious disease there is. If it takes off in the United States it is going to spread around the world," finished off Amorim.
The rebirth of protectionist measures in the face of the international financial crisis has been criticised by practically all the leaders who are in Davos. In an address on Friday, the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, directly criticised the subsidies granted by the North American government to the country’s auto industry and alerted to the risk of such practices spreading.
"It is obvious that moments of economic hardships generate fear, but it is also at moments like this that the measures are more necessary," evaluated Amorim. "As hope was chosen over fear, it is necessary for courage to be chosen against fear," he added, in reference to Barack Obama’s inauguration address.
*Translated by Mark Ament
