Commerce official hopeful on Brazil trade talks

Commerce official hopeful on Brazil trade talks    Noting that Brazil and the rest of the Mercosur nations have shown the coolest response to the idea of a Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), Deputy Commerce Secretary David Sampson nonetheless believes the prospect for trade talks with Brazil this year are good.
   Speaking before the Brazil-U.S. Business Council in Washington, D.C., Sampson said the stage was set after talks between President Bush and Brazil's President Luis Inacio Lula Da Silva last November.
   The Commerce Department and Brazil's Ministry of Trade are in the planning stages for trade talks, and expect the first talks to be held in Rio de Janeiro later this year, Sampson noted. The talks will be on a government-to-government level, he said, but will include input from the private sector.
   U.S. exports to Chile have more than doubled since a free trade agreement between the United States and Chile was implemented, and Sampson said strong gains were possible through other trade agreements.
   'When all is said and done, more than 90 percent of U.S. trade in the Americas will be covered by free-trade agreements in the years ahead,' Sampson predicted.