U.S. to push aggressive Latam trade agenda

By Doug Palmer

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States wants to expand trade ties with Latin America and is looking to Brazil to help bring long-running world trade talks to a close by offering deeper cuts in its manufacturing tariffs, U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke said on Friday.

"We're looking forward to really developing an aggressive trade agenda, opening markets not just (in) the United States, but also two-way trade, because that's going to be key to the economic prosperity of the entire hemisphere," Locke told the Reuters Latin American Investment Summit.

Locke said the global economy may be turning the corner on the financial crisis that caused trade flows to plummet in the Western Hemisphere and around the world.

"I think clearly we're going to continue to feel the effects of the financial crisis on trade," Locke said, but added "we are starting to see things bottoming out."

The United States is a top destination for exports from many countries in Latin America.

But in the first two months of 2009, U.S. imports are down 50 percent in value from Venezuela, 33 percent from Colombia, about 28 percent from Mexico and Brazil and 19 percent from Chile compared to the same months last year.

The U.S. economic stimulus package should help boost demand in coming months, but it will take a long time before growth is completely restored, Locke said.

In the meantime, Locke said countries need to resist protectionism, though he acknowledged that some might view U.S. bailouts of its financial and auto sectors as just that.