Brazil Looms Larger

[Catherina]

1. So capital from the US is being replaced by capital from the South, as the author pointed out.

So capital from the US is being replaced by capital from the South, as the author pointed out. "Is this exploitation or solidarity?"

The last sentence in your excerpt had a note, #12, that I took the liberty of translating.

“Labour-intensive sectors in Brazil, such as the textile and garment industry, would improve their competitiveness relative to their Asian competitors on Brazil’s domestic market if they were to offshore part of their production operations to Paraguay,” This is one of the findings of the study to be released today by the Federation of Industries of the State of São Paulo (Fiesp), pointing to a pair of jeans, for example, for which the cost would be reduced by 35% if produced in neighboring Paraguay.

Fiesp wants to bring entrepreneurs to consider installing factories across the border. Therefore, the study took into account four variables in the composition of costs: labor, supplies, maintenance and interest. Paraguay is cheaper for all four. The country electricity cost are more attractive and so are wages that are on average 35.5% cheaper. Even with the reduced rate for the Brazilian industry in force since February this year, the Paraguayan kilowatt hour is 63% cheaper.

Another advantage Fiesp pointed out is the tax system of the neighboring country, which is simpler and has a smaller percentage in the final product cost. In Brazil, the impact of social and labor charges on the payroll is 100%. In Paraguay, it's 31%. So at the end of the production chain, a pair of jeans costs on average $ 7.75 to be produced in Brazil, while in the neighboring country it costs U.S. $ 5.73.

....

The textile industry is emblematic because if those who settle in Paraguay prosper, it will open a path to sectors with similar structures such as footwear, leather, furniture and metals," he says.

...

https://conteudoclippingmp.planejamento.gov.br/cadastros/noticias/2013/4/3/fiesp-mostra-vantagens-de-se-levar-industrias-ao-paraguai

Don't do it. Don't outsource anything. Don't play that game Brazil. Remember your friend Chavez and his warning about "neocolonial logic". Take care of your workers first and foremost. There's more to life than making a profit providing cheap jeans for the world.

And this timely invitation.

Obama to welcome Rousseff: a “new era” starts in Brazil

A communiqué released today by the White House said, “The President and First Lady will host Dilma Rousseff, President of the Federative Republic of Brazil, for an official State Visit with a State Dinner at the White House on October 23,” in what the United States hopes will mark the start of “a new era in relations”, as announced by Vice President Joe Biden, in Rio de Janeiro.



“President Barack Obama has asked me to invite your president to come to Washington for the only state visit which will take place this year,“ Biden said in a speech that sought to convince Brazilians of the mutual interest underlying closer trade ties and investment.

“The year 2013 is the beginning of a new era of relations between Brazil and the United States,and also the Americas”, Biden said; he shall be meeting Rousseff on May 31 in Brasilia.

Rouseff’s vist to the US will be the first state visit in Obama's second term; it will also be the first state visit of a President of Brazil to the United States since 1995.

Biden said it was time to leave the past behind and focus now on what both economic powers-the first and the seventh in the world, can now do together. ”Imagine what these two dynamic economies (USA and Brazil) could do with more trade and investment,“ he said.

...

http://en.mercopress.com/2013/05/29/obama-to-welcome-rousseff-a-new-era-starts-in-brazil