Brazil, US, should deepen trade involvement, says Oxford CEO

I had the great pleasure of recently addressing the International Business Alliance of the Greater Boca Raton Chamber of Commerce during a meeting hosted by Lynn University at its beautiful Wold Performing Arts Center. More than 30 people were present and all listened with rapt attention.

As you know, I am a native of Brazil, and I am the CEO of Oxford Group, a firm composed of many international consulting and trading companies.  The establishment operates from a headquarters her in Boca Raton, on North Federal Highway. And since coming to the United States and settling in this area, I have tried to stay active in the community.

The speech to the Chamber-based organization on July 2 dealt with a number of topics, but I tried to remain focused on trade between the US and Brazil, and the relationship the two nations have fostered over the years.  The speech not only touched on US-Brazilian trade opportunities, but how firms in each nation can establish closer bonds and share business prospects with each other.

Regarding imports and exports, I noted the following:

• Brazil was the United States’ 9^th largest goods export market in 2018.
• US goods exported to Brazil in 2018 totaled $39.5 billion, up $6.1 percent ($2.3 billion) from 2017 and up 22.3 percent from 2008.
• US exports to Brazil accounted for 2.4 percent of all American products shipped to other countries in 2018.
• US total exports of agricultural products to Brazil totaled $630 million in 2018.

Concerning imports, I presented the following figures:

• Brazil was the United States’ 17^th largest supplier of goods import in 2018.
• US goods imports from Brazil totaled $31.2 billion in 2018, up 5.8 percent ($1.7 billion) from 2017, and up 2.3 percent from 2008. US imports from Brazil account for 1.2 percent of overall US imports in 2018.
• Total US imports of agricultural products from Brazil totaled $3.3 billion in 2018, Brazil’s 10^th largest supplier of agricultural imports.

One thing is particularly important: Brazil is a direct trade competitor with China.

Considering the troubles America is currently having with China, particularly over trade issues, I suggested that the US might give more consideration to expanding exports and imports with Brazil. The United States has already established a good working relationship with Brazil, one that can be used as a springboard to a better functioning connection, an alliance that will aid the bottom line of the two nations.

It’s unlikely America will have the same trade negotiating troubles with Brazil as it is currently having with China. Politics does not taint the US and Brazil affiliation as it does the link between the US and China.

Actually, America and Brazil have much in common. Brazilians elect a president every four years; and in the interval of the presidential elections is that the mayors are elected. There is an eight-member Supreme Court, established by the former government. Its members are likely to stay on the high judicial tribunal for a long time. Many people have liked the new right-wing president of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, to US President Donald Trump. Bonsonaro won the chief executive role in 2018 to help rid Brazil of its recession- and corruption-plagued past.

One thing is certain. Brazilians like the United States. They like to visit the US and, when financial times are good, to purchase goods in the United States.  Travel, tourism and transportation services are still among Brazil’s most notable and important exports to the US.

We at the Oxford Group are here to help create and nurture relationships between businesses of all sizes in Brazil and the United States. The Oxford Group is made up of companies and consultants, talent coordinators and others willing to collaborate with corporations, entrepreneurs and professionals to assist them in developing businesses in the USA, and American firms to expand or enlarge to Brazil.

The Oxford Group’s Internationalization Program aims to prepare companies to operate in the world market by means of:

• Sale and distribution of products and services;
• Transfer and expansion of companies;
• Personal and family support;
• Training of entrepreneurs to develop self-sufficiency in the United States.

Our goal, from the beginning, has been to successfully accomplish and implement the entry or expansion of a company or product into the US market.

Our ongoing mission is to be a benchmark of excellence in foreign trade and the transition of businesses and entrepreneurs from throughout the world into the US, and from the US to the world.

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