mmodate the dramatically overweight baggage. "We left with nothing, just a piece of hand luggage," said the 30-year-old Mello,http://www.housedroid.com.cn/bbs/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=11507. "We go to the U.S. once a year, stay in great hotels, have a fantastic holiday and shop till we drop and it's still cheaper than shopping in Brazil. It's a no-brainer." According to the latest statistics, Brazilians spent $5.9 billion in the U.S. in 2010 in a tsunami of cash that's shifting American immigration practices and boosting economies in hard-hit parts of the U.S. that remain in the doldrums. President Barack Obama recently ordered the State Department to speed up the visa application process for tourists coming from Brazil, China and other nations with newly flush consumers. After suffering decades of hyperinflation, Brazil has ridden high commodity prices along with some of the world's biggest offshore oil discoveries to expand its economy, lift millions out of poverty and multiply the ranks of the country's deep-pocketed elite. The buying binge also shows off the muscle of the country's mushrooming middle class, which has expanded by 40 million people since 2003. That's been bolstered by the growing use of credit cards, bank loans and other forms of consumer credit. But it's not just the easy money that has transformed Brazilians into world-class shoppers. Stiff tariffs on all imports push the prices of foreign-made goods into the stratosphere at home. And though domestic products are not known for their quality, their prices have risen in recent years as demand is higher than production, making it cheaper to buy nearly everything in the U.S., from clothes to toys and kitchen gear and even soaps and shampoos. As a result, Brazilians spend more in the U.S. than visitors from any other nation around $5,400 per person in 2010, with experts estimating the number growing last year. Japanese tourists followed, spending $4,300 each,toms shoes sale. Unniverson Liborio, a 60-year-old chef based in New York, disembarked at Rio's airport with bags stuffed with hot buys for his grandchildren baby onesies, a pink plastic Barbie mansion and 700 disposable diapers. "I got this all for maybe $300,http://www.bbsbokyart.com/bbs/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=721357, total," said the Brazilian-born Liborio, who has lived in the U.S. for decades. "Here I couldn't have bought even half the diapers for the same price, and forget about everything else,toms outlet." Price discrepancies are particularly pronounced when it comes to luxury goods. With the number of millionaire households here forecast to more than triple by 2020, Brazil is widely regarded as the new El Dorado of luxury, and top-tier labels such as Italy's Prada and Bottega Veneta are scrambling to get a foothold. Because of the staggering import taxes,toms shoe store, however, the high-end handbags, shoes, garments and electronics can end up retailing for several times more here than in Europe or the U.S. The iPhone 4S with 16 gigabytes of memory costs $1,515 without a contract on Apple's Brazilian website,http://www.jkjz168.com/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=39919. The same phone retails without a contract for $649 on Apple's U.S. website. And so it is that hordes of Brazilians swarm Miami's Apple Store whil