Brazil-U.S. Relations: the American Congress Point of View

The Congressional Research Service (CRS) prepares reports so that American representatives and senators can familiarize themselves with certain subject matter. Its report on the relations between Brazil and the U.S., published on February 9, depicts an interesting account of the situation — including the priority it gives to some issues, such as drug trafficking, and the way it defines certain issues.

The national security strategy of the Obama administration considers Brazil to be an “emerging center of influence, whose leadership is welcome in finding progress for bilateral, hemispheric and global issues.”* This statement is key for Brazil’s diplomacy; Brazil does not want to be seen as merely a regional leader.

Among the issues described, the first one to be discussed in the report is fighting drug trafficking. Several American presidents have talked about wanting to change their agenda for Latin America, which has traditionally focused on drug trafficking, commerce and immigration, all of which are considered to be “negative aspects.”*

As we can see, drug trafficking is a top priority. Commerce, after the end of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) talks, seemed to have become a secondary issue. But the U.S. continues to be one of Brazil’s biggest commercial partners, even though it has been overcome by China. And nowadays we live in a quite different situation — Brazil maintains its highest deficit with the U.S., while the U.S. maintains its highest surplus with Brazil. This is one of the issues that will be on Obama’s agenda during his visit to Brazil on March 19 and 20. Even a potential shutdown of the American government, which has recently been operating on week-by-week budgets, has not postponed the American president’s trip.

A new issue seems to be emerging on the bilateral agenda — pre-salt. Brazil is already considered to be strategic due to its ethanol production. Now, with the discovery of the pre-salt layer, this “has the potential to turn Brazil into a major oil and gas producer and an important source of energy for the United States,” says CRS.

U.S.-Brazil relations “may be characterized as generally friendly despite a number of disagreements in recent years,” says the author, Peter J. Meyer.

Old disagreements mentioned by the CRS include Brazil’s opposition to the U.S. tariff on its ethanol and the Doha Round of the WTO negotiations that had ground to a halt. More differences came out in the past two years: “Brazil has criticized the United States for failing to take a stronger stance on the political crisis in Honduras” in order deal with the issues surrounding the 2009 coup d’etat and for immediately accepting the November election results, and the two countries also “clashed on the Iran issues.”*

And finally, “Brazil is considered a middle-income country and does not receive large amounts of U.S. foreign assistance.” Brazil received $25.1 million in U.S. aid in 2010. Just for the sake of comparison, the strategic Egypt receives $1.5 billion a year from the U.S.

*Editor’s Note: These quotations, accurately translated, could not be verified.