Containers at the port of Suape in Ipojuca, Brazil. (Mara Ehrlich/Bloomberg)
key takeaways:
- The US will impose 25% tariffs on imports from Brazil from July 22 after the country found Brazil involved in unfair trade practices.
- The tariffs are imposed under Section 301 and exempt products including coffee, beef, oranges, orange juice, certain energy products and aerospace components.
- US officials said negotiations were possible while Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva had previously criticized the proposed tariffs and questioned their motivation.
WASHINGTON – The United States is imposing a 25% tariff on imports from Brazil after finding a range of unfair trade practices by the world’s 10th largest economy.
The tariffs, which were first proposed last month, will take effect July 22.
The order exempts certain goods that are not produced in the US or that officials worry would disrupt the supply chain. Exempt products include coffee, beef, oranges and orange juice, certain oil and gas energy products, and aerospace parts and components.
The Office of the US Trade Representative concluded after a year-long investigation that Brazil had a range of unfair trade practices, including anti-corruption enforcement and its own unfair tariffs, in addition to other practices seen as unfair and unfair. However, the US has had a goods trade surplus with Brazil for years.
US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said in a statement that the action was necessary to ensure American workers and companies compete on a level playing field.
“Extensive dialogue with Brazil over the past year has not resolved these issues, but we stand ready to continue dialogue with Brazil to bring about long-needed changes to the problems identified in this investigation,” he said.
For decades, Brazil’s unfair acts, policies, and practices have harmed U.S. commerce, including giving Brazilian producers an unfair advantage over their American competitors and restricting access to one of the world’s top export markets. For example:
illegal… pic.twitter.com/58WX433MO5
— United States Trade Representative (@USTradeRep) 16 July 2026
After being warned by US officials in early June that they were proposing tariffs, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva reacted with outrage. Instead he pointed to political considerations, blaming his rival in the country’s October elections, Senator Flavio Bolsonaro. Bolsonaro recently visited Washington and is the son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, an ally of President Donald Trump.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a post on Twitter about the tariffs announcement: “Let there be no confusion about why: President Lula and his government have not negotiated with the US in good faith. His economic policies are bad for Americans and bad for Brazilians. For the past year, Lula has put his ego before getting a deal over the welfare of the Brazilian people, and these tariffs are the price of that.”
The tariffs are being imposed under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, which allows the US to initiate an investigation into Brazil’s trade practices.
In February the US Supreme Court ruled against several of Trump’s tariffs imposed under a different law, the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977 (IEEPA). The court found that he violated his authority under that act to impose sweeping tariffs on US trading partners, including Brazil.
Trump had imposed a 50% tariff on Brazil in protest against prosecuting Jair Bolsonaro for trying to overturn his defeat in the 2022 election under that law. But Trump’s relationship with Lula appeared to be improving in May, when he visited the White House.
