US, Brazil to continue trade cooperation despite differences: Bush

US president George W. Bush said Sunday that the United States and Brazil will work together on trade issues, especially ahead of a December conference of the World Trade Organization in Hong Kong.

The disagreement between the two countries over the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) is of minor importance, Bush spoke at a joint press conference with his Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva after their meeting on Sunday.

The United States "understood" Brazil's position, said the US president.

Bush arrived in the Brazilian capital on Saturday night after a Summit of the Americas in Argentina which failed to resolve differences on setting up the FTAA, a regional free trade zone stretching from Canada to Argentina.

The Bush administration insists the free trade agreement, scheduled to begin 10 months ago, would give American businesses new markets and help create jobs in Latin America.

However, Brazil and other big Latin economies fear the deal would favor the United States.

Brazil, Latin America's biggest economy, has wanted cuts in US farm subsidies and greater access to the US farm market before it opens up its industry and service sectors to US competition.

The United States, Mexico and some other countries had been hoping to set an April date to move the trade talks forward. The move, however, was opposed by Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela.

Lula told reporters in Argentina on Saturday that "free trade is very important if we respect equality among nations."

But Brazilian officials said over the weekend that the country was waiting to see the outcome of December's WTO meeting in Hong Kong before deciding on a possible reactivation of the FTAA.

The United States is Brazil's biggest trade partner with direct US investment in Brazil totaling 4 billion US dollars in 2004. The bilateral annual trade volume has been growing by 7 percent on average.

Security was tight during Bush's visit, with Brazilian air space closed until the US president left the country on Sunday afternoon for Panama, the final stop of his five-day trip to Latin America.

Source: Xinhua