US TREASURY SECRETARY VISITS BRAZIL TO DISCUSS ECONOMIC AND FINANCIAL COOPERATION

Brasilia, February 7- United States Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner will visit Monday Brazil to discuss economic cooperation. Geithner is scheduled to return on the same day. His visit will “highlight the importance of economic and financial cooperation” with the government of Brazil“ said the Treasury Department in a release.

”The secretary will consult on shared bilateral and G-20 objectives, including ongoing efforts to promote balanced global growth and to reform the governance of the international financial institutions,” the Treasury said.

Geithner will meet with senior government officials in Brasilia before travelling to Sao Paulo to meet with business leaders and economists. The visit comes ahead of President Barack Obama's announced visit to Brazil in March and when the administration of President Dilma Rousseff administration has expressed “deep concerns” over the strength of the Real particularly against the US dollar and the Chinese Yuan.

Trade Minister Fernando Pimentel anticipated that Brazil is considering trade measures to protect domestic manufacturers from cheap imports.

“We should not have the illusion the Real will weaken overnight,” Pimentel told reporters. Brazil will adopt “defensive trade measures to protect its producers within the World Trade Organization rules”.

A 38% rally of the Real in the past two years coupled with the fastest growth in more than two decades has increased imports, prompting the government to take measures to temper the currency gains.

Last week the Brazilian National Confederation of Industry, CNI, revealed that the ‘currencies war’ is costing domestic manufacturers dearly.

Half of Brazil's export firms battle against Chinese peers for business and 67% of them lost market share in international competition with the Asian powerhouse, according to a CNI-conducted survey.

Domestically, just under one third of Brazilian firms face direct competition from Chinese rivals, but about 45% of those companies have seen their market share in Brazil slip, said the CNI paper.

<