Analysis: Protectionism was a major concern at Americas summit

CARTAGENA, Colombia ---- The big headlines at the summit of President Barack Obama and 29 other hemispheric leaders that ended here last Sunday focused on the U.S-Latin American spats over Cuba and the Falkland/Malvinas Islands, but the talk behind the scenes among the presidents dealt with something that worries them much more ---- the return of protectionism.

Granted, most of the presidents and prime ministers spent much of their time during their public appearances talking about Latin America's demands that Cuba be invited to future U.S.-Latin American summits, and that a planned summit final declaration include a paragraph backing Argentina's territorial claims on the Falkland/Malvinas Islands.

Failure to reach a consensus on both issues led to the collapse of the hard-negotiated 16-paragraph summit final declaration. It was replaced by a presidential statement by the summit's host, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, in which he summed up his view on the summit's conclusions.

But behind closed doors, most presidents talked about the rising trade barriers that several Latin American countries, especially Brazil and Argentina, are erecting to protect their industries, senior U.S. and Latin American officials say.

New measures by these and other countries to restrict imports are causing growing concern in the hemisphere. In the private talks among the leaders, "there is much more conversation about the economy and trade than on the big headline issues, such as Cuba and the Falkland/Malvinas," Roberta Jacobson, the top U.S. State Department official in charge of Latin American affairs, said in an interview.

Mexican President Felipe Calderon took the unusual step of denouncing the protectionist trend publicly at the beginning of the summit, in a meeting with some of the hemisphere's top business leaders ---- and of naming names.

Latin America's way to face the world's economic recession "should clearly not be protectionism," Calderon said. "There are protectionist measures in the U.S. Congress, but there is also protectionism in many, I would say, in all of our countries."

He added that for Mexico "it is vital to have a free trade agreement with Brazil. But unfortunately, what we are finding (in Brazil) is a trend in the opposite direction."

Mexico is increasingly angered by Brazilian measures to reduce imports of cars from Mexico, which had grown spectacularly since a 2002 agreement that allowed free trade in cars between the two countries. Brazil's super-strong currency had made it much cheaper for companies to import foreign-made cars.

But similar spats are taking place across the region. Argentina recently stopped granting automatic import licenses, and started to demand that its importers match their orders with exports, which has hurt countries across the region, including Argentina's Mercosur common market partners Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay.

Last month, the United States and 39 other countries, including the European Union, Japan and Mexico, filed an unusual complaint at the World Trade Organization against Argentina's latest trade barriers. It asserted that Argentina is not only requiring more import licenses, but that the system is arbitrary and unpredictable.

Argentina responded in a statement that "Among the WTO 157 members, the United States and the European Union have received the highest amount of complaints, and their trade policies are being investigated by specialized courts. We will accept no external pressure."


