Saudi Ministry of Education to showcase innovations at 2025 Geneva International Exhibition    7,523 violators of residency, labor, and border security laws deported in a week    Video contradicts Israeli army account of deadly March 23 strike on Gaza paramedics    Saudi Arabia spends over $241 million to implement de-mining projects in 3 countries    Italy's Meloni government approves controversial security decree expanding police protections and penalties    Egypt submits new Gaza ceasefire and prisoner exchange proposal: Report    'Everything is possible' — Ronaldo focused on titles, not 1,000-goal milestone after Riyadh Derby win    Saudi, US military leaders discuss enhanced defense cooperation in Riyadh    King Salman Global Academy for Arabic Language launches program with Indiana University    Ronaldo brace powers Al Nassr past Al Hilal in Riyadh derby thriller    Ed Sheeran weaves Persian music into new song, Azizam    Al-Jadaan: Crown Prince's directives confirm government's ability to bring back balance to real estate market    Veteran Bollywood actor Manoj Kumar dies at 87    Foreign investors are allowed to engage in real estate business outside Makkah and Madinah Commercial speculation should not be the purpose of real estate transaction    Aubameyang fires Al Qadsiah into King's Cup final with stoppage-time winner over Al Raed    Musk's X is suing India, as Tesla and Starlink plan entry    Tesla sales plunge after backlash against Elon Musk    Danilo Pereira fires Al Ittihad into King's Cup final with dramatic stoppage-time double    Screen time in bed linked to insomnia, study finds    Mexico bans junk food in schools to fight childhood obesity epidemic    Sweet sales surge ahead of Eid as Saudi chocolate imports top 123 million kg in 2024    Bollywood actress vindicated over boyfriend's death after media hounding    Grand Mufti rules against posting prayers and preaching in mosques on social media    King Salman prays for peace and stability for Palestinians in Ramadan message King reaffirms Saudi Arabia's commitment to serving the Two Holy Mosques and pilgrims    Exotic Taif Roses Simulation Performed at Taif Rose Festival    Asian shares mixed Tuesday    Weather Forecast for Tuesday    Saudi Tourism Authority Participates in Arabian Travel Market Exhibition in Dubai    Minister of Industry Announces 50 Investment Opportunities Worth over SAR 96 Billion in Machinery, Equipment Sector    HRH Crown Prince Offers Condolences to Crown Prince of Kuwait on Death of Sheikh Fawaz Salman Abdullah Al-Ali Al-Malek Al-Sabah    HRH Crown Prince Congratulates Santiago Peña on Winning Presidential Election in Paraguay    SDAIA Launches 1st Phase of 'Elevate Program' to Train 1,000 Women on Data, AI    41 Saudi Citizens and 171 Others from Brotherly and Friendly Countries Arrive in Saudi Arabia from Sudan    Saudi Arabia Hosts 1st Meeting of Arab Authorities Controlling Medicines    General Directorate of Narcotics Control Foils Attempt to Smuggle over 5 Million Amphetamine Pills    NAVI Javelins Crowned as Champions of Women's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) Competitions    Saudi Karate Team Wins Four Medals in World Youth League Championship    Third Edition of FIFA Forward Program Kicks off in Riyadh    Evacuated from Sudan, 187 Nationals from Several Countries Arrive in Jeddah    SPA Documents Thajjud Prayer at Prophet's Mosque in Madinah    SFDA Recommends to Test Blood Sugar at Home Two or Three Hours after Meals    SFDA Offers Various Recommendations for Safe Food Frying    SFDA Provides Five Tips for Using Home Blood Pressure Monitor    SFDA: Instant Soup Contains Large Amounts of Salt    Mawani: New shipping service to connect Jubail Commercial Port to 11 global ports    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Delivers Speech to Pilgrims, Citizens, Residents and Muslims around the World    Sheikh Al-Issa in Arafah's Sermon: Allaah Blessed You by Making It Easy for You to Carry out This Obligation. Thus, Ensure Following the Guidance of Your Prophet    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques addresses citizens and all Muslims on the occasion of the Holy month of Ramadan    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Crisis tests L. America's free-trade
By Helen Popper
Published in The Saudi Gazette on 03 - 04 - 2009

BRAZIL, Argentina and Mexico will join the anti-protectionist chorus at this week's G20 summit, but Latin America's commitment to free trade is being tested as governments fight recession and job cuts.
In a region with a long history of populism, leaders may feel greater pressure to shield their economies as trade flows plunge by double-digit figures and unemployment and poverty rates creep higher after years of export-fueled growth.
“This is the moment of truth for integration mechanisms. The crisis is creating a stress test,” Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim said after Argentina infuriated Sao Paulo's industrial elite by announcing extra import controls.
The two neighbors, South America's top economies, are often at odds over trade, but the crisis has raised trade hackles elsewhere too.
Ecuador has taken some of the world's most drastic trade protection measures by dramatically increasing tariffs on imports, while Paraguay plans to hike tariffs on sensitive products as part of a “Buy National” campaign. Mexico, irked by Washington's move to block its trucks from US highways, has raised duties on a long list of American imports from strawberries to Christmas trees.
Mounting pressure from voters and industrialists could convince leaders to shelve their free-trade ideals, sparking tit-for-tat retaliation and threatening nations' ability to bounce back when the global economy starts to recover.
“The question isn't whether they'll be more protectionism, that's almost inevitable. The question is will it start to get out of hand? Will countries start to retaliate against each other?” said Peter Hakim, president of the Inter-American Dialogue think-tank in Washington.
Patience
Argentine President Cristina Fernandez, who faces June mid-term elections amid a worsening economic outlook, tested patience in Brazil by imposing extra import restrictions earlier this year as she battles to avert factory job losses. She held up her country's “monstrous” $4.3 billion trade deficit with its neighbor as evidence that Argentina cannot compete fairly, and her more moderate leftist counterpart – Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva – has played down the spat.
That might be because Lula is keen to promote regional integration or that Argentina accounted for just 9 percent of Brazil's total export market last year.
Exports are also less important for Brazil's wider economic health. They were 14 percent of Brazil's gross domestic product last year, compared with more than 20 percent in Argentina.
When Ecuador's leftist President Rafael Correa hiked tariffs and cut quotas on more than 600 imports, well-dressed women lined up to buy foreign-made clothes and face creams, fearing soaring prices.
Door-to-door cosmetic vendors said a ban on imported perfume put 300,000 jobs at risk, but they were not the only ones upset by the measures that affect everything from Colombian bubble gum to Bolivian pottery.
Exporters and governments in neighboring nations, also facing slowdowns, have criticized the move and Peru is drawing up a contingency plan if the curbs stay in place.
Correa says the curbs are essential if Ecuador is to lower its imports by $1.5 billion this year to reduce a gaping trade deficit in its dollarized economy. “It's tremendously unfair that the money our migrants send home and our oil earnings are being wasted on sacks of imported dolls, plastic cars and luxury goods,” he said.
Seeking to avert complaints to the World Trade Organization (WTO), Ecuador has appealed for a temporary waiver from trade accords by citing balance of payments problems.
Deficit
Even Lula, who WTO chief Pascal Lamy said should get a prize for defending free trade during the crisis, slapped extra license requirements on imports as Brazil clocked its first trade deficit in eight years in January.
Complaints from Uruguay and Paraguay helped convince Brazil to scrap the measure two days later, but some analysts say even free-trade advocates like Lula may face fresh pressure to protect industry before the crisis bottoms out.
“So far Brazil hasn't made any overt protectionist moves but as time goes by, the unemployment rate has been ticking higher ... There's a certain pain threshold,” said Nick Chamie, head of emerging markets research at RBC Capital Markets.
Those governments that resist protectionist measures, or at least avoid more drastic trade restrictions, may make it easier for their economies to bounce back when global investors do start to look again at emerging markets.


Clic here to read the story from its source.