1.   Garcia this week urged trade ministers in Brazil and Uruguay to support an investigation by the Mercosur trade block in South America of possible projectionist moves in the U.S.

2.   Mercosur is a reduced-tariff trade block comprising Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay.

3.   Most products in the Mercosur trade block, a customs union linking Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay, move without duty.

4.   Order flow benefits trading firms by allowing them to bundle orders and trade larger blocks of stock, reducing their costs.

5.   Valdes remains on the trade block.

6.   Only then will Brazil be able to focus its attention on other trade blocks in the continent.

7.   President Chandrika Kumaratunga on Thursday called for the seven South Asian nations to form a regional trade block to develop commerce within the area.

8.   An accelerated timetable was vital if the group is to meet future competition from other regional trade blocks, he said.

9.   Commerce ministers from seven South Asian nations will meet in the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka this week to discuss the formation of a regional trade block, officials said Monday.

10.   Countries belonging to Mercosur, the South American trade block will be exempted from the new tariffs.