BRASILIA Jan 28 The Brazilian government will
propose the full liberalization of vehicle trade with Argentina
from July, newspaper Valor Econômico reported on Thursday.
Brazilian Trade minister Armando Monteiro will travel to
Buenos Aires in February to make a formal offer, Valor added,
without saying how it obtained the information.
The press offices of the Brazilian and Argentinian
governments were not immediately available to comment.
Officials in both countries are already working on a
potential deal, which was discussed by Finance Ministers Nelson
Barbosa and his Argentinian counterpart Alfonso Prat-Gay last
week at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Valor said.
Brazil also plans to propose a deal to allow companies from
both countries to participate in public tenders under the same
conditions as local firms, Valor reported.
The two states have imposed quotas on bilateral automobile
trade despite being major partners in South America's trading
bloc Mercosur.
Brazil and Argentina are among the region's most
protectionist countries, but are moving to open their economies.
Argentina's recently-elected President Mauricio Macri has
vowed to reduce trade barriers with his country's key trade
partner.
His Brazilian counterpart Dilma Rousseff is aggressively
trying to open up new markets abroad in an attempt to revive an
economy mired in its worst recession in nearly 30 years.
(Reporting by Silvio Cascione; editing by Andrew Roche)