USAgNet - March 10, 2010
Brazil will raise tariffs on 102 U.S. exports, including wheat, cars, boats and chewing gum, and break patents worth $238 million in a bid to force the U.S. to end subsidies to cotton producers.
Acting on a World Trade Organization ruling, Brazil will impose levies of 14 percent to 100 percent, according to a list published in the government's Official Gazette. The sanctions, which take effect in 30 days, represent $591 million in trade with wheat goods the largest target, Carlos Marcio Cosendey, head of Foreign Ministry's economic department told reporters.
The government of President Luiz Inancio Lula da Silva plans to take additional steps and break U.S. patents as part of the $829 million retaliatory measures, Cosendey said. The ministry will publish a draft for public consultation of sanctions over intellectual property March 23, he said.
"The major goal of the retaliation is that U.S. companies pressure the U.S. government to solve the problem of subsidies to cotton producers," Cosendey said. "We've always been interested in a negotiation with the U.S." to avoid the need for sanctions.
The Geneva-based WTO in August ruled that Brazil may impose annual sanctions on U.S. imports because the cotton subsidies violate trade regulations.
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