The Trump administration has announced a new 25% tariff on a broad range of Brazilian imports, intensifying trade tensions between Washington and Brasília amid an increasingly sensitive political climate ahead of Brazil's upcoming presidential election.
The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) said the measure is based on findings that Brazil maintains a series of unfair trade practices affecting U.S. businesses. The investigation cites concerns over electronic payment systems, ethanol market access, intellectual property protection, anti-corruption enforcement, and environmental policies.
According to U.S. officials, negotiations with Brazil have continued for more than a year without resolving the disputes, prompting the administration to proceed with the new tariffs, which are scheduled to take effect later this month.
The tariffs will apply to a range of Brazilian exports, including timber, machinery, and corn ethanol, industries expected to bear the immediate impact of the new trade measures.
However, the administration has exempted several products that are either not produced in significant quantities in the United States or are considered important to American consumers. These include beef, coffee, orange juice, and aircraft parts, a move aimed at limiting inflationary pressure ahead of the U.S. midterm elections in November.
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said Brazil's trade policies have prevented American businesses and workers from gaining fair access to one of Latin America's largest consumer markets.
"Brazil's unfair trade practices have denied U.S. producers meaningful access to a market of more than 210 million consumers," Greer said, adding that extensive negotiations over the past year failed to produce a satisfactory outcome.
The new duties were imposed under Section 301 of the U.S. Trade Act of 1974, which authorizes the U.S. government to investigate and respond to foreign trade practices deemed discriminatory or unreasonable.
Administration officials indicated that additional Section 301 tariff actions could be announced in the coming weeks as part of a broader effort to rebuild portions of the U.S. tariff regime after earlier measures were struck down by the Supreme Court this year.
Brazilian authorities estimate that approximately one-fifth of the country's annual exports to the United States, valued at roughly $37.7 billion, could be affected by the new tariffs.
The latest tariffs add to growing diplomatic tensions between the Western Hemisphere's two largest democracies.
Brazil's left-wing government has argued that Washington's actions are politically motivated rather than based on legitimate trade concerns, particularly as the country prepares for presidential elections in October.
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has accused political rivals linked to former President Jair Bolsonaro of helping fuel the trade dispute, while Bolsonaro's allies have denied any involvement.
The tensions have been amplified by recent U.S. actions, including the designation of two Brazilian drug trafficking organizations as foreign terrorist organizations, a decision strongly criticized by Brasília, which warned it could increase bilateral friction.
Among the issues highlighted by the USTR is Brazil's widely used instant payment system, with U.S. officials arguing that it disadvantages American credit and debit card providers.
Washington also contends that Brazil offers more favorable tariff treatment to trading partners such as India and Mexico than it does to the United States, creating what it describes as an uneven competitive environment for American exporters.
Brazil, however, maintains that its trade arrangements are fully consistent with World Trade Organization (WTO) rules and has rejected allegations of discriminatory treatment.
The USTR's findings also criticize Brazil's environmental enforcement and anti-corruption framework, adding further points of contention to an already strained trade relationship.
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