World Trade in BrazilFrom 1500 to the 1930s the Brazilian economy was based on the production of primary products for export. For three centuries Brazil's economy has been severely held back because ever since Portugal discovered Brazil, it has subjected its economy to either an imperial mercantile policy or a strictly enforced colonial pact. Although Brazil gained independence in 1822, Portugal's decision-making left a strong and lasting imprint on the Brazilian economy and society. At the end of the eighteenth century, when wage labor was adopted and slavery was eliminated, considerable changes finally began to occur. Only starting from the 1930s were the first steps taken to translate the main structural changes transforming Brazil into a modern, semi-industrialized economy. The intensity of these transformations meant that the economy's growth rates remained particularly high, and a diversified manufacturing base was established between 1950 and 1981. Substantial difficulties such as slow growth and stagnation have plagued the economy since the early 1980s, although its potential was allowed to regain its large and rather diversified economy in the mid-1990s, still with its share of problems. After World War II, Brazil's inhabitants residing in towns and cities grew from 31.3% to 75.5%. The 146.9 million inhabitants living in cities in 1991 meant that Brazil had two of the largest metropolitan centers in the world, São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. Despite the reduction of the primary sector's share in the gross national product from 28% in 1947 to 11% in 1992, the agricultural sector remains important. It is primitive and intensive, but also its modern and dynamic parts make Brazil's largest... medium of paper... contingent protection procedures and policies). Many different transactions are possible if an agreement in the FTAA can be reached for both Brazil and the United States. Cutting all tariffs could be the basis of the deal, with some balance between U.S. agricultural trade reforms and greater access to Latin American procurement and services markets. Regarding procurement, FTAA negotiators must be able to agree on principles that give transparency to the guidelines for open tenders and public procurement. Furthermore, these guidelines must be complemented by a promise to negotiate within approximately 5 years a list of entities whose purchases would be covered by these new obligations. The desired outcome would be agreement on a negative list that would cover all services subject to FTAA restrictions excluding those explicitly written; hopefully these exceptions will be kept to a minimum..