That Brazil is one of the most isolated economies in the Western hemisphere hardly comes as a shock. The main causes of this seclusion are the tariffs Brazil imposes on foreign products and the lack of competitiveness among local producers. Not by coincidence, one-quarter of all manufactured goods from Brazil go to Mercosur partners. Brazilian products have limited entry into more developed economies.
But a new survey carried out by the National Confederation of Industry (CNI) with 589 exporters—the widest survey of its kind in Brazil—maps the problems Brazilian...