RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Democratic congressman Peter DeFazio presented a bill in the U.S. House on Tuesday, August 10th, to ban the import of Brazilian products such as meat and soy, in response to the increase in forest fires in the Amazon.
He is the U.S. Representative for Oregon’s 4th congressional district, serving since 1987. The bill also provides for a ban on free trade negotiations between the USA and Brazil.
The congressman’s bill also talks about banning imports of products such as leather, sugar, corn, and tobacco from Brazil. In a note published on the congressman’s website, the democrat criticizes the presidents of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, and the United States, Donald Trump.
“President Jair Bolsonaro believes he can act with impunity and accelerate the destruction of the Amazon rainforest, and he needs to know that there are real consequences for his reckless actions,” he said. He also said that deforestation in the Amazon could have significant effects on rainfall in the USA and affect its crops.
On the same day, other US congressmen discussed the environmental policy of the Bolsonaro government in a public hearing at the House Foreign Relations Committee. The congressmen, however, pointed out that negotiations for a trade agreement between the two countries should not be blocked by the environmental crisis.
Donald Trump’s government has been Bolsonaro’s most important ally in the international debate on the situation in the Amazon.
Democratic senators even sent a letter to the US trade representative calling for the suspension of trade talks with Brazil until the fires in the Amazon were resolved. The idea is that a future agreement would facilitate procedures, increase trade relations and investments.
The Brazilian ambassador, Ernesto Araújo, has a meeting at the State Department in Washington DC this week, when he is expected to discuss the issue.
The idea of a trade agreement has been designed by both sides, but has not yet gained official status. The US usually communicates to Congress when they formally begin negotiations for an agreement.
In Tuesday’s talk, however, even among Democrats – opposition to the Trump government – there was no sign that the environmental issue could be a hindrance to a future agreement with Brazil.
Democratic congressman Albio Sires said he did not see the imposition of conditions to the agreement as a way out for Americans to exert pressure on Brazil. “We will work together, we will find a solution, that we can do together to resolve this situation. At this point, this is not a good approach,” he said.
Another Democrat, Dean Phillips, told reporters that he has not yet taken a position on the need to include conditions regarding environmental policy for approval of a possible agreement. “There are challenges in using these instruments, but we have to look at all the options,” he said.