The Strangford Treaty was a treaty signed at Rio de Janeiro the 19th of February 1810 by the British and the Portuguese government, then in exile in its colony of Brazil. The treaty granted the British special commercial privileges, notably preferential tariffs of 15 percent on British goods imported into Brazil, in exchange for their defense of Portugal and its colonies during the Napoleonic War.Portugal also agreed to limit the importation of African slaves and to consider the abolition of the slave trade. Alegoria a Jorge III e D

In 1785, a decree proclaimed that Brazilian factories could only produce cloth that would be used for clothing slaves or to make sacks for food goods. This decree was lifted in 1808, accompanied by an open ports policy. To help recover their internal industry, Brazil imposed Tariff protection on imports. During this period, the British had helped the Portuguese government to flee the invading Napoleonic army and find refuge in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a ...

. The Anglo-Irish diplomat,

Percy Smythe, 6th Viscount Strangford Percy Clinton Sydney Smythe, 6th Viscount Strangford (31 August 178029 May 1855) was an Anglo-Irish diplomat. Early life He was the son of Lionel Smythe, 5th Viscount Strangford (1753–1801) and Maria Eliza Philipse. In 1769, his sixteen-year ...

, negotiated an agreement to grant Britain trade privileges with Brazil. In return for these Brazilian concessions, the British would convince the Portuguese government to recognise Brazilian independence. The result of the treaty was that exports from the United Kingdom came to dominate the markets in Brazil. Imported British goods would only receive a 15% duty, compared to 25% for goods from other nations. It also limited Brazilian legal recourse against British subjects and allowed British agents to become established throughout the country. As a result, low cost imported goods manufactured by

machine industry The machine industry or machinery industry is a subsector of the industry, that produces and maintains machines for consumers, the industry, and most other companies in the economy. This machine industry traditionally belongs to the heavy indust ...

began to swamp the market that had previously been dominated by the local handicrafts industry. Exports of tobacco and sugar from Brazil were prohibited, which protected British producers in the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greate ...

. The treaty was written so as to expire in 1825 unless renewed. It remained in effect until 1844.

References

{{reflist, refs= {{citation , first1=Benjamin , last1=Keen , first2=Keith , last2=Haynes , page=169 , title=A History of Latin America , year=2008 , edition=8th , publisher=Cengage Learning , isbn=978-0-618-78318-2 , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_FVIOhdR9n8C&pg=PA169 {{citation , first1=John , last1=DeWitt , year=2002 , title=Early globalization and the economic development of the United States and Brazil , pages=96–98 , publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group , isbn=0-275-97199-6 , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3-Ml4U5EkxsC&pg=PA97 Commercial treaties 1810 treaties Treaties of the United Kingdom (1801–1922) Treaties of the Kingdom of Portugal Brazil–United Kingdom relations