BRASILIA -(Dow Jones)- Brazil’s government will likely raise its import tariff, known as TEC,


on non-Mercosur-bloc textiles, footwear and furniture items, Trade Minister Luiz Fernando Furlan said Wednesday, according to the Estado news agency.

Furlan said the tariff increase, which comes at the request of local industries, could be implemented within 90 days.

“We are transforming a sectorial request along specific technical lines for the TEC,” he said.

Furlan said Brazil has already gained backing for the move from Mercosur bloc partners and will seek formal approval for the measure at the next meeting of the bloc.

Despite the increase in tariffs, Furlan said Wednesday that many local industries remain competitive even amid appreciated local currency rates.

The minister said he believed that Brazil’s currency the real would hover between BRL2.10 per dollar and BRL2.20 per dollar during the coming year.

The real closed at BRL2.097 per dollar in spot contract trading Wednesday on the Brazilian Mercantile and Futures Exchange.

He said local export industries were adapting to the appreciated currency and would “not likely enter into collapse over the coming months.”

He said, however, that Brazil needed to improve efficiency by lowering taxes, promoting investment, improving quality of logistics and reducing bureaucracy.

-By Gerald Jeffris, Dow Jones Newswires; (5561) 4501-7143, geraldjeffrisdowjones.com

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03-14-071700ET
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