Trump may support Brazil joining NATO, OECD
WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump on Tuesday indicated that he may support Brazil joining NATO and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, or OECD, as the two nations expected to further their economic cooperation.
Trump said at the White House while meeting with his Brazilian counterpart Jair Bolsonaro that “we’re going to look at that very, very strongly in terms of whether it’s NATO or it’s something having to do with alliance”.
The United States was reported to give Brazil a major non-NATO ally status, which will give Brazil preferential access to the purchase of US military equipment and technology. Trump’s verbal statement on Tuesday may indicate a step further than that.
The US president also said he supports Brazil joining OECD.
“Brazil and the United States have never been closer than we are right now,” he told Bolsonaro.
Later in a press briefing, Trump repeated his intention, saying that he would like to “designate Brazil as a major non-NATO ally — or … maybe a NATO ally. I’ll have to talk to a lot of people but maybe a NATO ally — which will greatly advance security and cooperation between our countries”.
He added that “President Bolsonaro and I are both committed to reducing trade barriers”.
However, a joint statement from Trump and Bolsonaro issued later by the White House confirmed that Trump announced the US intent to designate Brazil as a major non-NATO ally, and “noted his support for Brazil initiating the accession procedure to become a full member of the OECD”.
The two presidents also “agreed to deepen their partnership through the United States-Brazil Security Forum to combat terrorism, narcotics and arms trafficking, cybercrimes, and money laundering, and they welcomed two new arrangements to enhance border security,” according to the statement.
Bolsonaro announced Brazil’s intent to exempt US citizens from tourist visa requirements, and Trump agreed to take the steps necessary to “enable Brazil to participate in the Department of Homeland Security’s Trusted Traveler Global Entry Program”.
Trump earlier welcomed the signing of a technology safeguards agreement that will enable US companies to conduct commercial space launches from Brazil, as well as an agreement between NASA, the US space agency, and the Brazilian Space Agency to launch a jointly developed satellite in the near future, according to the agreement.
The two leaders also agreed to build a Prosperity Partnership “to increase jobs and reduce barriers to trade and investment”.
To this end, they decided to enhance the work of the US-Brazil Commission on Economic and Trade Relations, created under the Agreement on Trade and Economic Cooperation, “to explore new initiatives to facilitate trade investment and good regulatory practices”.
Meanwhile, the White House said that Trump will also meet with several leaders of the Caribbean region including the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Jamaica on Friday.
“Trump’s meeting with the Caribbean leaders will reaffirm our strong friendship with and commitment to these countries, and signal the importance of the Caribbean to the hemisphere,” the statement read.