US, Brazil take first steps "on the road to a free-trade agreement"

March 19 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. and Brazil signed a trade and economic cooperation agreement to boost commerce between the Western Hemisphere’s largest economies as President Barack Obama arrived for his first visit to South America.

The accord creates a U.S.-Brazil commission to expand trade and remove non-tariff barriers, according to a statement today from U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk’s office. The commission will be led by Kirk’s office and by officials from two Brazilian ministries responsible for trade, industry and development.

Obama, appearing with Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff in Brasilia today, said the nation is becoming a global economic leader and the two governments have an “historic opportunity” to deepen cooperation. Obama said he is starting his first visit to South America in Brazil to highlight its economic ascendancy...

A trade and economic cooperation agreement is “among the first steps on the road to a free-trade agreement,” John Faraci, chief executive officer of Memphis, Tennessee-based International Paper Co., the world’s largest paper and pulp producer, said today at the U.S.-Brazil Business Summit in Brasilia.

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-03-19/u-s-brazil-sign-trade-economic-agreement-as-obama-visits.html

and there goes the middle class

down the drain

this is about more AMERICAN jobs!

:rofl: