Brazil regrets not reaching a trade deal but denies crisis with Argentina

Brazilian Industry Secretary Alessandro Teixeira said that no progress has been made regarding the trade impasse over the Brazilian importation prohibition of Argentinean cars and auto parts, but denied any crisis with Argentina.

The government official and his counterpart, Eduardo Bianchi, concluded two days of conversations over Brazilian trade restrictions on cars, auto parts, medications, agricultural machinery and shoes.

Nonetheless, the Brazilian Industry Minister, Fernando Pimentel, assured that the summit was “good” though it didn’t accomplish the full or either partial lift of the nontariff trade barrier.

“It was a good meeting from a technical point of view, however no real change has been made,” he said to Brazilian newspaper O Estado de Sao Paulo.

Pimental also stated that the new government of president Dilma Rousseff has implemented more strict “commercial defense mechanisms” that applied, in this particular case, to Argentina amongst other countries.

Quoting a government source, the newspaper also stated that no compromises have been made during the summit but, nevertheless, “no retreating” either.