SAO PAULO, Brazil (AFP) - Apr 23, 2003 - Brazil's decision not to support the US-led war in Iraq will not damage long-term bilateral relations with Washington, US Treasury Secretary John Snow said here Wednesday.

"The US was disappointed, of course, but the bilateral relationship is strong, it is a mature relationship, and it is a mature partnership," Snow said after a speech to the American Chamber of Commerce in Sao Paulo.

"There is no long-term damage done to the relationship," he said. "Quite the contrary. That is behind us now, it is another page, and we are moving forward."

Snow said the administration of President George W. Bush "is committed...to the steps to put this economy on the right track, and the meetings with (Finance Minister Antonio) Palocci and Central Bank President (Antonio) Meirelles gives me a sense of real confidence that the (Brazilian) administration is on the right path."

He said the markets "have reacted very well to that too...It is not surprising that the inflation rates will be coming down, that the foreign trade activity is growing, that the currency will have positive developments, all of those things are the direct response to good economic policy."