World Trade of BrazilFrom the 1500s to the 1930s, the Brazilian economy was based on the production of primary products for export. For three centuries, Brazil's economy was severely hampered because, since Portugal discovered Brazil, it subjected its economy to an imperial mercantile policy or a strictly enforced colonial pact. Even though Brazil gained its independence in 1822, Portugal's ruling phase left a lasting and powerful imprint on the Brazilian economy and society. In the late 18th century, when wage labor was adopted and slavery was eliminated, considerable changes finally began to occur. It was not until the 1930s that the first steps were taken to transform Brazil into a semi-industrialized and modern economy. The intensity of these transformations allowed the economy's growth rates to remain particularly high and a diversified manufacturing base was instituted between 1950 and 1981. Significant difficulties such as slow growth and stagnation plagued the economy since the early 1980s, although its potential has proven effective. regained its large and fairly diversified economy in the mid-1990s, still with its share of problems. After World War II, the proportion of Brazil's residents residing in cities increased from 31.3 percent to 75.5 percent. The 146.9 million people living in cities in 1991 gave Brazil two of the world's largest metropolitan centers, Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. Despite the reduction in the share of the primary sector in the gross national product from 28 percent in 1947 to 11 percent in 1992, the agricultural sector remains important. Its primitive and intensive, but also modern and dynamic, elements make Brazil the largest... middle of paper ...... contingent protection procedures and policies). Many different transactions are possible if an agreement under the FTAA can be achieved for both Brazil and the United States. Reducing all tariffs could be the basis of the deal, with some balance struck between U.S. agricultural trade reforms and better access to Latin American supply and services markets. When it comes to public procurement, FTAA negotiators must be able to agree on principles that ensure transparency in the guidelines for open tenders and public tenders. In addition, these guidelines must be supplemented by a promise to negotiate within approximately 5 years a list of entities whose purchases would be covered by these new obligations. The desired outcome would be agreement on a negative list that would cover all services subject to FTAA restrictions, excluding those explicitly written - hopefully these exceptions would be kept to a minimum..