The United States has announced a 25 per cent tariff on imports from Brazil after concluding that the South American country engages in a range of practices Washington has described as unfair. The tariffs, which were first proposed last month, are set to come into effect on July 22.
The executive order excludes certain goods that are either not produced in sufficient quantities in the US or are considered important to key supply chains. The exempted products include coffee, beef, oranges and orange juice, select oil and gas energy products, as well as aerospace parts and components.
The Office of the US Trade Representative said a year-long investigation had found several Brazilian practices that Washington considered unreasonable and unfair. These included what the US described as weak enforcement of anti-corruption measures and unfair tariffs imposed by Brazil, among other trade-related concerns. The findings come despite the fact that the US has maintained a goods trade surplus with Brazil for several years.
US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer defended the decision, saying the tariffs were necessary to ensure American workers and businesses were able to compete on a fair footing.
"Extensive negotiations with Brazil over the past year have not resolved these issues, but we remain open to continuing negotiations with Brazil to bring about long-needed changes to the problems identified in this investigation," Greer said.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva had reacted sharply when US officials announced in early June that they were considering imposing the tariffs. Lula rejected the trade-related justification and instead pointed to political factors, blaming his rival ahead of the country's October elections, Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, who had recently visited Washington.
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Flavio Bolsonaro is the son of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, a political ally of US President Donald Trump. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in a post on X announcing the tariffs, said there should be "no confusion" about the reasons behind the move. He accused Lula and his government of failing to negotiate with Washington in good faith and criticised the Brazilian president's economic policies.
"For the past year, Lula has put his own ego ahead of making a deal for the welfare of the Brazilian people, and these tariffs are the price for that," Rubio said.
The tariffs are being imposed under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, which authorises the US to investigate and respond to what it considers unfair trade practices by another country.
The move also follows a February ruling by the US Supreme Court against several tariffs imposed by Trump under a different law, the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977. The court held that Trump had exceeded his authority by imposing sweeping tariffs on trading partners, including Brazil.
Trump had earlier used the same law to impose a 50 per cent tariff on Brazilian imports in protest against the prosecution of Jair Bolsonaro over alleged attempts to overturn his defeat in the 2022 election. However, relations between Trump and Lula appeared to improve in May after the Brazilian president visited the White House.
The latest decision now imposes a 25 per cent tariff on Brazilian imports, while exempting a range of products and leaving the door open for further negotiations between the two countries.
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