The Trump administration has proposed a new 25 per cent tariff on a broad range of Brazilian imports, citing concerns over trade practices including restrictions related to ethanol market access.
The proposal was announced by the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) after completing a Section 301 investigation launched last year under the Trade Act of 1974.
According to the USTR, the investigation examined a range of issues, including digital trade, electronic payment services, preferential tariff arrangements, intellectual property protection, illegal deforestation and access to Brazil’s ethanol market.
The agency concluded that several Brazilian policies and practices place unreasonable burdens on US commerce and therefore qualify for action under Section 301.
US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said the investigation was initiated to address longstanding concerns regarding Brazil’s trade policies. He noted that despite recent discussions with Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and members of his government, significant differences remain unresolved.
The proposed tariffs would apply to numerous Brazilian products but would exclude several major exports, including beef, coffee, rare earth minerals, selected metals and ores, aircraft and aircraft parts.
Additional exemptions cover many fruits and nuts, crude oil and petroleum products, pharmaceutical compounds, organic chemicals and fertilisers.
The proposed 25 per cent tariff would also not apply to products already subject to national security-related duties under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act. These include tariffs currently imposed on steel, aluminium, copper, motor vehicles and auto parts.
The measure would partially replace a 50 per cent tariff imposed on many Brazilian goods last year by President Donald Trump. Of that total, 40 percentage points were linked to Brazil’s prosecution of former president Jair Bolsonaro. However, those tariffs were later struck down by the US Supreme Court in February.
The USTR has opened a public consultation period on the proposal through July 1 and plans to hold a public hearing on July 6. The agency faces a July 15 deadline to determine its next course of action under the investigation.
The Brazil inquiry is one of several active Section 301 investigations currently underway. Other probes focus on excess industrial capacity in China and 15 other trading partners, enforcement of forced labour restrictions across 60 countries, and intellectual property practices in Vietnam.
