This week, we pick apart the good and the bad in Brazilian trade during the Covid-19 crisis. Government set to cut tax breaks on the chemical industry.
Deep Dive: Brazilian trade during the pandemic
The Economy Ministry published its first annual survey of Brazilian foreign trade during 2020, showing how the pandemic affected the flow of goods to and from Latin America’s biggest economy. Despite huge challenges and less-than-ideal trade figures, the data shows that Brazil was able to make imports and exports less bureaucratic.
Why it matters. Brazil is a historically insular country when it comes to trade, with one of the G20’s lowest rates of imports and exports as a percentage of GDP. According to the World Bank, enhancing Brazil’s participation in global trade would generate roughly 400,000 new jobs in the country.
While trade flow fell during the pandemic, the government celebrated 2020 as an important year for improving processes. Here are the main findings of the report:
- Slashing bureaucracy. At the beginning of the pandemic, Brazil lifted import levies on 561 products related to fighting the coronavirus — such as medicines, health inputs, and hospital materials. The country also reduced the list of products which require...