United States Trade Brazil

A law that has kept major parts of Brazil's growing and lucrative computer market off limits to foreign-owned multinationals may condemn Latin America's biggest country to technological backwardness, according to a growing number of critics. The "informatics law," which three years ago formalized a decade-old government practice called "market reserve," gives local companies the exclusive right to manufacture and sell microcomputers and minicomputers.

Brazil, a world leader in food exports, won U.S. support and near unanimous agreement from 16 other major agricultural nations on Monday to insist liberalized farm trade be at the center of any new round of global trade talks. Farms produce the equivalent of about 50% of global economic output. But agriculture is one of the most heavily subsidized and protected sectors in the world.

A split has developed within the Bush Administration over whether to allow IBM to sell Brazil supercomputer equipment that some experts contend could help Iraq improve its missile technology and develop nuclear weapons, according to government officials. The debate over the pending export is expected to go to the National Security Council at the White House next week. And Congress is about to jump into the fray with the introduction of Senate legislation to block the sale.

President Bush and Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso acknowledged Friday that tough negotiations lie ahead as the Western Hemisphere's two largest economies jockey for advantage in creation of a 34-nation trading bloc joining North and South America. Although Bush and Cardoso asserted that they share a belief in global free trade, they conceded that seemingly minor disagreements can have billion-dollar consequences.

* Alliance Imaging Inc., a diagnostic imaging company that was bought by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., filed for an initial stock sale to raise as much as $172.5 million. The Anaheim-based company also plans to offer $150 million of senior subordinated notes, according to the filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. More than 90% of Alliance's revenue comes from magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI.

The United States on Tuesday targeted four nations for investigations on charges of unfair trade practices and hailed progress with Japan to deregulate its insurance industry. Brazil, Indonesia and Australia face investigations in connection with programs that affect auto makers. Argentina is alleged to have excessively high tariffs on imported textiles, apparel and footwear. At a news conference, acting U.S.

Brazil Joins Complaint Against U.S.: Brazil joined Venezuela in bringing the case before the World Trade Organization over new U.S. rules on imported gasoline. The WTO's Dispute Settlement Body agreed that the Brazilian complaint will be studied by the same panel set up in April to look into the U.S.-Venezuelan dispute, sources said. Brazil and Venezuela argue that standards established by the U.S.

Brazilian leaders have hardened their stance on joining a proposed hemispheric free-trade zone, saying they will agree only if the United States opens up its agricultural and steel commodities markets and modifies anti-dumping laws. Their comments over the last week are the latest in a string of Brazilian complaints that U.S. trade policy unfairly keeps the South American nation's orange juice, sugar, tobacco and steel out of the world's richest markets.

* Alliance Imaging Inc., a diagnostic imaging company that was bought by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., filed for an initial stock sale to raise as much as $172.5 million. The Anaheim-based company also plans to offer $150 million of senior subordinated notes, according to the filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. More than 90% of Alliance's revenue comes from magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI.

The Clinton administration said it was planning to file World Trade Organization cases against Brazil and five other nations, accusing the countries of unfair trade practices that are hurting American businesses. Brazil was targeted for two alleged violations, one involving textile products and the other one covering the administration's belief that the country needs to increase patent protection for U.S. products.

Under pressure from U.S. steelmakers and labor unions, President Clinton on Friday imposed punitive tariffs on steel imports in a move that could increase trade tensions between the United States and major steel- producing nations such as Brazil, Japan and South Korea. The White House said the tariffs will apply to imported steel wire rod, which is used to make hangers, cables and fasteners, and imported line pipe.

Brazil agreed to curtail exports to the U.S. of a key steel product used in cars and appliances to avoid tariffs that would have priced its steelmakers out of the U.S. market. The agreement--which U.S. steelmakers denounced as inadequate--calls for Brazil's two largest steel producers to suspend shipments of hot-rolled steel until October, then cut annual exports by 28% for five years. It will also establish minimum prices for the imports. The U.S.

Signaling that the domestic steel industry deserves some breathing space from an unprecedented flood of imports, the U.S. Commerce Department on Friday issued a preliminary ruling that Brazil and Japan have dumped hot-rolled steel here and unfairly subsidized prices by up to 70%. The findings could lead to anti-dumping tariffs and penalties as early as mid-June if the Commerce ruling is finalized in late April, as expected, and if the U.S.

ITC Says Some Stainless Steel Imports Hurt U.S.: Stainless steel wire rod imports from Brazil, France and India are injuring or could injure the U.S. market, the International Trade Commission said in a preliminary ruling. The Commerce Department must now rule on whether imports from those countries are being sold on the American market at unfair prices, a practice called dumping. If the department finds dumping and the ITC rules that the imports are conclusively hurting the U.S.

Minnesota farmer Doug Magnus is bracing for trouble when the first shipload of cheap Brazilian soybeans arrives in the United States this spring. Last week's currency collapse has made it cheaper to buy soybeans from Brazil than from him. That's bad news for U.S. farmers, the world's leading soybean producers, who were already sitting on a record crop and rock-bottom prices before their chief competitors saw a 32% plunge in their currency, the real, in the last week.

President Clinton probably will announce next week that he will seek voluntary agreements with Russia, South Korea, Japan and Brazil to limit the amount of steel they ship to the U.S., two Clinton aides and two industry officials said Thursday. Clinton is looking at two Commerce Department plans to stem the tide of cheap steel imports coming into the U.S. market. The two Clinton aides said one plan would allow Russia to continue to export steel to the U.S.