Brazil and Argentina united at the G-20 against controls on commodities

In a joint statement, the ministers of Finance of Brazil, Guido Mantega, and Argentina, Amado Boudou, declared that next week at the G-20 meeting in Paris they will defend free trade for commodities.
The rotating presidency of the G-20 is presently held by France, and Nicolas Sarkozy has stated that he favors regulating the commodity markets so as to halt price rises in basic materials and control inflation.

Mantega said that both he and Boudou agreed that the way to control inflation was not by controlling commodity prices, but by boosting production.

“As big exporters of commodities, we certainly have a position on this issue. And what we think should be done is stimulate production, not inhibit it,” declared Mantega.

Boudou was blunt: “This problem [inflation] cannot include the regulation of commodity prices, no way,” he said.

Mantega and Boudou also said that they had discussed a wider use of local currencies in bilateral trade. Total Brazil-Argentina trade reached $32 billion in 2010.