Created in 1970 – when Brazil was experiencing a severe shortage of foreign exchange – the acronym AEB defined an “Associação dos Exportadores Brasileiros” (Association of Brazilian Exporters). An emphasis on encouraging exports was justified as a means of obtaining foreign exchange to meet the payment of imports demanded by the strong growth of the time (1968-1973) called the “economic miracle”. But the understanding soon prevailed that “Foreign Trade”, in all countries, “is a two-way street” – on the one hand flows exports and on the other, imports – leading to a change in its designation to the “Associação do Comércio Exterior do Brasil” (Brazilian Foreign Trade Association), keeping the acronym AEB.

Associação de Comércio Exterior do Brasil (AEB) – which in 2020 completed half a century of existence – since its creation has acted as a legitimate national representative of the international trade, goods and services sector, in matters relevant to the promotion of various segments of the chain with the foreign market, always watchful to reconciling the demands of its members with the public interest.

Thanks to its history of more than half a century, AEB has gained credibility and space with segments of the three branches of government. In these 50 years of work, the AEB has acted – with emphasis on the relationship maintained with different federal governments conducive to the presentation of demands and policy suggestions for the country's foreign trade – in favor of encouraging an increase in exports, reducing costs and bureaucracy, including in import operations, with measures that look to assure national products and services greater power of competition against their foreign competitors, both in foreign markets and in the domestic market.

Hence, one of AEB's many actions concerns structuring foreign trade meetings to outline guidelines and strengthen dialogues between foreign trade entrepreneurs and government entities, with highlights for ENAEX and ENASERV, the focus of the latter the international trade of commercial services and, for the last EMEX, event whose focus lies on the foreign trade segment with increasing gender diversification in activities involving international transactions of goods and services.