Provides references to the principal business associations, indicating which accept U.S. companies. Describes the primary roles of those associations and to what extent they influence government actions.

The AmCham Brazil was founded in 1919, and is now the largest of the 104 American Chambers in the world. The organization has attracted virtually all the American companies with operations in Brazil as well as multinationals from over 40 countries, along with a large number of large Brazilian companies. The main objective of AmCham Brazil is to support the free enterprise system for a better business environment, and to strengthen the Brazil-U.S. economic and commercial relationship. AmCham Brazil has approximately five thousand-member companies connected by its São Paulo headquarters with branches in 13 Brazilian cities: Campinas, Ribeirão Preto, Porto Alegre, Curitiba, Joinville, Belo Horizonte, Uberlândia, Brasília, Goiânia, Campo Grande, Recife, Salvador and Fortaleza.

The U.S. section of the Brazil-U.S. Business Council (BUSBC) represents the major U.S. companies invested in Brazil and operates under the administrative aegis of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, maintaining independent policy formulation and membership through offices in Washington, DC. The Brazil section is managed by the National Confederation of Industry (CNI)  composed of the 27 Brazilian state-level federations of industry. The BUSBC also maintains an office in Brazil’s capital city, Brasilia.  

Apex-Brasil works to promote Brazilian products and services abroad and to attract foreign direct investment to strategic sectors of the Brazilian economy. CS Brazil partners with Apex to promote Brazilian FDI into the United States through our SelectUSA program.

Federação das Indústrias do Estado de São Paulo (FIESP) is a Brazilian industry entity. FIESP is also affiliated with the CNI. FIESP has 52 representatives in the State of Sao Paulo comprised of 133 employer trade unions and 130,000 industries. 

Industry Federation of the State of Rio de Janeiro (FIRJAN) is a network of private NGOs with over 10,00 associates, who promote business competitiveness, education, quality of life for industrial employees and society as a whole in the state of Rio de Janeiro.

Prepared by our U.S. Embassies abroad. With its network of 108 offices across the United States and in more than 75 countries, the U.S. Commercial Service of the U.S. Department of Commerce utilizes its global presence and international marketing expertise to help U.S. companies sell their products and services worldwide. Locate the U.S. Commercial Service trade specialist in the U.S. nearest you by visiting http://export.gov/usoffices.