The Center of Global Trade and Investment (CCGI) of São Paulo School of Economics (FGV/EESP) has published a study indicating that the inclusion of non-tariff barriers in agreements to be negotiated by the country is better for Brazilian trade than negotiations based on the reduction of tariffs. Non-tariff barriers are measures and economic policy instruments which affect trade between two or more countries, and exempt the use of tariff mechanisms.According to the survey, a tariff reduction agreement with the European Union would increase Brazilian exports to Europe by 21.2%, while Brazilian imports originating from the block would increase by 43.7%. However, if the agreement would also include non-tariff barriers, exports would advance 97.5% and imports 101%.Vera Thorstensen, one of the authors of the study and coordinator of CCGI, explains that it happens because markets, such as the European Union and the United States, no longer use tariffs, but non-tariff barriers as protections. Brazil has focused only on tariffs and import taxes so far, but in these markets tariffs are low. It is necessary to negotiate non-tariff barriers, which are the ones preventing the exchange of products today, says Vera, in an interview for the newspaper Valor Econômico.The work is coauthored by the researchers Emerson Marçal and Lucas Ferraz. CCGI was established in September 2010, aiming at integrating FGV's economics, law and business administration departments and it offers a different approach to international trade, focused on the research and analysis of the regulation and competitiveness of the sector, in their different areas of operation: multilateral, regional, bilateral and by country.To learn more about CCGI, please click here. (in Portuguese)