United Mexican States
Brazil and Mexico are committed to consolidating a mature, high level and pragmatic bilateral relationship. The bilateral relations have experienced, over the past few years, productive dynamics with the signing of several instruments, especially the Cooperation and Investment Facilitation Agreement (CIFA); Air Services; and Mutual Recognition of Cachaça and Tequila as Geographical Indications and Distinctive Products.
Signed in 2015, the CIFA seeks to encourage reciprocal investment through an intergovernmental dialogue mechanism. The agreement provides for the dissemination of business opportunities, the exchange of information on regulatory frameworks and the adoption of a mechanism to prevent and resolve disputes. Brazil and Mexico are, respectively, the largest economies in Latin America, representing around 65% of regional GDP. They are also the largest international investment receivers in the region. The predictability of the regulatory environment facilitates private investments. Telecommunications is the main sector for Mexican investments in Brazil, but there are also significant investments in the auto parts industry, water systems, movie theaters, and duty-free shops.
Brazil and Mexico have dense and significant economic and commercial relations, which have evolved further with the establishment, in March 2019, of free trade in the automotive sector, under ACE-55. Mexico is Brazil's seventh main trading partner. In 2019, the trade flow between the two countries totaled $ 9.05 billion, which represents 2.2% of the total volume of Brazilian foreign trade. That year, the bilateral trade balance registered a surplus to Brazil, in the amount of $ 660.3 million, and Brazilian exports of manufactured goods to Mexico accounted for 94.6% of the total. Noteworthy among imports from Mexico are passenger cars (20%) and automotive vehicle parts and accessories (11%).
Recent initiatives bring to the fore how bilateral trade has found institutional support to advance in a sustainable manner. The mutual opening of the Mexican rice and Brazilian bean markets, agreed in May 2019, paved the way for the exploration of complementarity in agricultural products. The inaugural meeting of the Brazil-Mexico Business Council in Mexico City in September 2019 brought the business communities of the two countries close together, with a view to increasing mutual knowledge and creating new opportunities to boost important bilateral economic flows.
Brazil and Mexico are also countries with recognized experiences in the field of South-South cooperation for development. The bilateral technical cooperation program has still great potential to be explored, particularly with regard to initiatives of a trilateral nature in the Latin American and Caribbean region.
Chronology of bilateral relations
2019 – Inaugural meeting of the Brazil-Mexico Business Council, in Mexico City (September)
2019 – Mutual opening of the Mexican rice and Brazilian bean markets, agreed in May 2019 (May)
2019 – Free trade in the automotive sector enters into force, under the auspices of ACE-55 (March)
2018 – Fourth Mexico-Brazil Binational Commission (Brasília, October 16 and 17) [Joint communiqué]
2018 – Meeting of Presidents of Mercosur and the Pacific Alliance (Puerto Vallarta, July 24) [Joint Declaration] [Acts adopted]
2018 – The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Aloysio Nunes Ferreira, and the President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), Gabriela Cuevas Barron, hold a meeting in Brasilia
2017 – The Secretary of Foreign Affairs of Mexico, Luis Videragay, visits Brazil (Brasilia, November 24)
2017 – Eighth Negotiation Meeting for the expansion and deepening of the Brazil-Mexico Economic Complementation Agreement No. 53 (ACE 53) (November, 12-14)
2017 – Seventh Negotiation Meeting for the expansion and deepening of the Brazil-Mexico Economic Complementation Agreement No. 53 (ACE 53) (Mexico City, August 29-31)
2017 – Sixth Negotiation Meeting for the expansion and deepening of the Brazil-Mexico Economic Complementation Agreement No. 53 (ACE 53) (Brasilia, June 12-14)
2016 – The Third Meeting of the Brazil-Mexico Binational Commission is held in Mexico
2015 – First meeting for the expansion of the Economic Complementation Agreement No. 53 (ACE 53) (Mexico City, November 10-12)
2015 – First Negotiation Meeting of the Brazil-Mexico Trade Expansion Agreement (July 7-8)
2015 – State visit of President Dilma Rousseff to Mexico (May 26-27) [Signing of the Trade Expansion Agreement between Brazil and Mexico] [Joint statement of Mutual Recognition] [Signing of the Cooperation and Investment Facilitation Agreement] [Joint Statement]
2015 – The Secretary of Foreign Affairs of Mexico, Jose Antonio Meade Kuribreña, visits Brazil (Brasilia, May 12)
2015 – Meeting between the Presidents of Brazil and Mexico during the CELAC Summit in San José (Costa Rica)
2014 – President Dilma Rousseff visits Mexico
2014 – Meeting between the Presidents of Brazil and Mexico during the CELAC Summit, in Santiago (Chile)
2013 – Meeting between the Presidents of Brazil and Mexico during the CELAC Summit, in Havana (Cuba)
2013 – The Agreement between Brazil and Mexico on tourist visa waiver, signed on November 23, 2000, is back in force (May 16)
2012 – The Governments of Brazil and Mexico agree on provisions regarding the Additional Protocol to the ACE 55 Bilateral Appendix (Mexico City, March 15)
2012 – The President-elect of Mexico visits Brazil
2011 – Meeting between the Presidents of Brazil and Mexico during the 66th General Assembly of the United Nations, in New York (September)
2010 – Working meeting between the Presidents of Brazil and Mexico
2009 – The Second Meeting of the Brazil-Mexico Binational Commission is held in Brasília
2009 – The President of Mexico, Felipe Calderón, visits Brazil. Signing of technical and scientific cooperation agreements in the areas of biotechnology, nanotechnology and space (August 17)
2008 – The presidents of Brazil and Mexico hold a meeting during the first Latin American and Caribbean Summit on Integration and Development (CALC), at Costa do Sauipe
2007 – Minister Celso Amorim participates in the Mexican Council on Foreign Relations – COMEXI (Mexico City, November 28)
2007 – The First Meeting of the Brazil-Mexico Binational Commission is held in Brasília
2007 – President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva visits Mexico
2006 – The President-elect of Mexico visits Brazil
2003 – President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva visits Mexico
2002 – President Vicente Fox visits Brazil
2000 – The President-elect of Mexico visits Brazil
1922 – The diplomatic representations of the two countries are elevated to Embassy status
1834 – Duarte da Ponte Ribeiro delivers credentials as Brazil's Chargé d'Affaires to the Government of Mexico
1830 – The plenipotentiary ministers of the Republic of Mexico and the Emperor of Brazil in Washington exchange correspondence on the possible interest in starting bilateral relations
1824 – The plenipotentiary ministers of the Republic of Mexico in Great Britain and the Emperor of Brazil in that Court exchange notes on the possibility of establishing diplomatic relations