In the midst of the U.S. economic downturn, China has surpassed the United States as Brazil’s biggest trading partner, a role the U.S. has played for the last 70-80 years. In April, the sum of China’s trade with Brazil reached $3.2 billion, exceeding the $2.8 million in trade with the U.S. by a significant margin. Brazil primarily imports industrialized products from China, such as parts for making telephones and LCD screens, as well as cheap textiles and shoes, and exports products such as soy (33%), iron ore (25%) and petroleum (10%). Miguel Jorge, Brazilian Minister of Development, Industry and Trade, predicts that China will continue to surpass the U.S. in its trade with Brazil through the end of 2009 at the very least, and acknowledged that the weakened economic state of the U.S. made this more likely. Brazil’s overall trade has been hit by the crisis as well, experiencing a drop of almost 20%, as compared to its performance in the first four months of 2008.