U.S. Launches New Round Of Tariffs On Brazil
July 15 (Reuters) – The United States will impose a 25% tariff on most imports from Brazil starting July 22, the U.S. Trade Representative’s office said on Wednesday. This would be the first action under the Trump administration’s new tariff strategy, which could affect dozens of countries.
The new program, launched after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the centerpiece of Trump’s tariff system earlier this year, is based on investigations into unfair trade practices under Section 301 of the U.S. Trade Act.
Nearly 80 trade investigations have been opened by the USTR office, and a new wave of tariffs may be imposed on dozens of countries, including China, the European Union, India, Japan, South Korea and Mexico.
Wednesday’s announcement follows the Trump administration’s proposal in June to impose a 25 percent punitive tariff on many imports from Brazil, after ruling that its practices were unfair on issues ranging from digital trade to illegal deforestation.
“Extensive negotiations with Brazil last year did not resolve these issues, but we remain open to ongoing negotiations with Brazil to bring long-needed changes to the issues identified in this investigation,” U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said in a statement.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said that there was no justification for the US decision.
Evaristo Sa/AFP via Getty Images
He said Brazil would immediately begin proceedings to apply for the tools provided under the “Law of Reciprocity” and reconsider the issue within the framework of the WTO dispute settlement mechanism.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, accused by Lula of being anti-Latin America when U.S. tariffs were proposed in June, blamed the Brazilian president and said, “Lula and his government did not negotiate in good faith with the United States.”
“Last year, Lula put his own ego ahead of making a deal for the welfare of the Brazilian people, and these tariffs are the price,” Rubio said in a scathing post about X.
Coffee, Beef, Pig Iron, Aircraft Exempt
The tariffs will apply to thousands of Brazilian imports, including sugar, agricultural machinery, ready-made clothing, electrical machinery, paper and steel.
The US said it would exempt all products recommended for exemption in the June notification, except for high-purity soluble pulp and non-pharmaceutical applications of certain products.
Exemptions include beef, coffee, rare earth elements, energy products, aircraft and aircraft parts.
The United States also added organic honey, pig iron, unflavored instant coffee and some other products to the exemption list on Wednesday.
The investigation into Brazil, launched last July, cited several allegations of unfair practices, including illegal deforestation and Pix, Brazil’s instant payment system, which the U.S. government says disadvantages credit card companies.
Brazil has vehemently denied all allegations.
Brazil is also included in a separate Section 301 investigation by the USTR, set to conclude July 24, into forced labor links in the supply chains of dozens of countries.
The investigation is expected to impose additional tariffs of 12.5% on Brazilian products, bringing the total burden to 37.5%.
(Additional reporting by Akanksha Khushi and Joao Manuel Mauricio; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman, Christopher Cushing and Raju Gopalakrishnan)
