SÃO PAULO (Reuters) - Brazil is eager to boost its share of global trade beyond the current level of 7% and that may be achieved by negotiating access to new markets, Agriculture Minister Tereza Cristina Dias said on Thursday.
The government aims to forge trade agreements between the Mercosur South America trade bloc and countries including Canada, Japan and Singapore, Dias said at an international investment conference in São Paulo.
Brazil also wants to strengthen trade ties with the United States by seeking greater access to the U.S. market while giving more access to American products in Brazil.
"Brazil exports a lot but imports very little. Trade is a two way street," she said.
Brazil has renewed and increased the size of its tariff-free quota for ethanol, a move seen mainly benefiting the United States, the world's largest ethanol producer and essentially the lone exporter of the biofuel to Brazil.
Finding buyers other than China for products like soybeans is also a priority, Dias said. She noted the rise in exports of the oilseeds from Brazil to China was temporarily driven by the global impact of the U.S.-China trade war.