What to expect for Brazilian Foreign Trade in 2019?
2019 promises to be a great challenge for Foreign Trade in Brazil. We started with a change of government, which will impact the way Brazil is seen, influencing the negotiations and exports of national products. In addition, there are crises and changes in the export market, the trade war between the United States and China, political problems in Europe and internal issues that generate financial insecurity.
Brazil is a country rich in inputs and produces in significant quantities products considered global commodities, being able to be the largest exporter of various products. But having export potential is not enough; companies need financial, tax and legal assistance, through bilateral agreements facilitating knowledge and dropping existing barriers in exports due to lack of knowledge or high cost.
But what can influence the direction of Brazilian foreign trade?
It is the mission of the new government to rethink reforms of the current model, opening dialogues with great powers, such as the United States and Israel, but without ignoring large recipients of Brazilian merchandise, as China has been standing out. Reducing the tax burden is an old requirement of companies, but still without major advances. The reduction of import tariffs on computer and technology goods is on the agenda, which may encourage the modernization of production, reducing costs through gains in production volume, allied to the negotiations of bilateral agreements, which would positively affect the competitiveness of the market. Brazilian product, strengthening our market.
The prices of commodities exported by Brazil – soy, oil, iron ore – are expected to fall, according to the Brazilian Foreign Trade Association (AEB). This forecast is due to the drop in the pace of global growth, the increase in interest rates and the trade war between the United States and China, which changes demand, causing a retraction in the trade flow and a drop in commodity prices. Brazil needs to move quickly and create means and opportunities in the midst of so many internal and external crises so that in 2019, the impacts are not felt quickly by national producers, making business unfeasible and losing “timing”.
Investments in infrastructure and technology, are strategic points and required for decades by the Brazilian logistics area, without valid results; our ports are in very poor condition, with obsolete equipment and without the capacity to receive large vessels. The railway network is practically nonexistent, leaving road transport with all the responsibility of loading our commercial economic potential on deteriorated roads, without security and with abusive freight prices, leveraged by high maintenance prices, payroll and increasingly shorter deadlines. delivery, necessary to cover failures and wasted time with unnecessary bureaucracies and abusive demands at various points in the process.
Reassessing incentive programs, reviewing the regulatory framework for ports, eliminating excess bureaucratic processes and tax obligations, investing in systems with greater unification of information from exporters / importers, speeding up the analysis of customs processes at any port / airport, would help the country to become more competitive vis-à-vis other exporting powers. Investment in trained professionals is decisive to withstand so many economic, currency and legal changes that require constant updates and a different perception of Brazilian foreign trade.
Count on us to overcome the challenges in this area
The knowledge of rules and procedures, deadlines and, mainly, of the legislation of each country, is decisive in order not to lose the strategic advantage achieved in a negotiation during the customs process, already hampered by all the obstacles mentioned here.
Our country has the homework to help Brazilian companies to remain competitive and profitable, promoting new business opportunities. ZHYCRON’s mission is to assist in all stages of the processes, ensuring that the negotiations agreed between exporter and importer are complied with within the legislation, in the shortest time, optimizing costs and always available with differentiated service, with professionals committed to the evolution customer’s business.
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