主题：贸易保护专题 -- nevermind

国内新闻与国外不一致,红字部分

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巴西将对２４种进口产品设限

2009年01月28日 17:12:28 　来源：新华网

巴西政府２７日宣布从即日起，该国将对包括玩具、鞋子、成衣和照相机在内的２４种进口产品实行许可证制度。此间经济界人士认为，这一措施将影响到部分中国产品对巴西的出口。

巴西发展、工业和外贸部当天发表公报表示，这项措施是根据世界贸易组织的有关规定作出，一旦被认定为可以进口，涉及该产品的进口许可证将在１０日内发放。

此间经济界人士指出，２００８年巴西出口额达到创纪录的１９７９亿美元，但是贸易盈余仅为２４７亿美元，与上一年相比下跌了３８％。巴西政府出台此项措施是为了防止进口过快增长，影响贸易顺差局面。

据巴西官方统计，２００８年巴西与中国双边贸易总额为３６４．４２亿美元，中国已经成为巴西第二大贸易伙伴，仅次于美国。中国对巴西主要出口商品为通讯设备、液晶显示器、焦炭和数码相机等。

Brazil Surprises With New Policy Requiring Licenses for Many Imports

January 28, 2009

Brazil's foreign trade department (Decex) Jan. 26 surprised the business sector by announcing an unexpected return to import controls. The department communicated that from now on it will require prior import licenses for a wide range of products that account for an estimated 70 percent of Brazil's imports. Until now, these imports have been approved automatically in a simple online procedure. Importing firms were only required to prepare an import declaration primarily for statistical reasons. Now each import request will be examined separately by Brazil's foreign trade secretariat (Secex), which will have 60 days to approve or disapprove the operation.

Return to the 1970s.

Traders expressed astonishment with the new rules, which they said amount to a return to the 1970s and 1980s when Brazil employed a highly bureaucratic system of import controls that caused major delays and often blocked products.

Trade analysts speculated that the surprise decision was a knee jerk reaction by the government to January's thus far disappointing trade figures. Brazil's trade surplus slumped by 40 percent in 2008 to $24.7 billion and is expected to fall again this year because of the global financial crisis.

But in January, the country appears headed toward its first monthly trade deficit in over seven years. At the end of the fourth week, the month's balance was a deficit of $645 million. The last time Brazil registered a deficit in January was in 2001 and for the last 93 months the country has registered trade surpluses.

In January, however, exports have fallen by 21 percent on a daily average versus January 2008 and by 25 percent from last December. This is being blamed on lower prices for Brazil's commodities but another factor has been the shrinking of markets for all of the country's exports due to the global

crisis.

Imports are also down but by a lesser degree, falling 2.2 percent from December and 8.8 percent compared with January 2008. According to analysts, the rapid deterioration of Brazil's trade balance has set off alarms in the capital Brasilia where government leaders are worried that a combination of falling exports and the already apparent decline of domestic demand will lead to mass layoffs.

‘Precipitous' Change in Policy.

According to the vice president of Brazil's Foreign Trade Association, JosAugusto de Castro, January's trade figures have been much worse than expected and are likely the main factor behind the government's decision to adopt import controls. “This measure represents a significant change in Brazil's foreign trade policy,” said Castro who added that he does not feel January's trade deficit justifies protectionist measures.

Roberto Giannetti da Fonseca, foreign trade director for the So Paulo State Federation of Industries, Brazil's most powerful business association, called the new policy a “frightened” and “precipitous” move on the part of the government.

“The government is making it difficult to import our raw materials. This could stop our industry,” warned Jonatan Schmidt, president of the Brazilian Association of Textile Importers. In the face of this criticism, the foreign trade department issued a brief statement in which it said the new requirement for import licenses was merely “statistical” to verify if the imports of some products were increasing abnormally, which could be a sign of dumping. The note went on to promise that imports would be liberated quickly.

Experienced traders, though, scoffed at this assurance, claiming that the foreign trade secretariat does not have near enough staff members to examine the massive volume of Brazil's daily imports.