Mr. Carlos Poza, Senior Commercial Officer, U.S. Embassy, Santiago Chile is the most ideal country in South America with which to do business. Chile began modernization long before any other country in Latin America and consists of a population with an ideology akin to that of the United States. Chile has run a budget surplus for the past ten years, due largely in part to the high internal savings and privatization, and has even gone beyond the United States in privatizing social security. This is a system where trickle-down has worked. Brazilian import policies include rather high, complicated tariffs, automatic import licensing, and requirements for standards, testing, labeling, and certification.
Brazil requires that all consumer products be labeled in Portuguese.
Intellectual property protection has increased over the past two years with patents protection extended to 20 years. In the telecommunications, computer, and digital electronic goods sectors, preferential treatment is given to bidders that meet certain criteria such as Brazilian ownership, Brazilian technology or products, or minimum local value-added content. However, Brazil does have an excellent resource for assisting U.S. exporters in their business projects with services such as business counseling, trade promotion events and market research. They have several commercial centers spread throughout the country. Ms. Henderson's main argument for trading with Brazil is the immense size of the market there.