Listeners, welcome to “Brazil Tariff News and Tracker,” your focused update on how Washington’s trade moves under Donald Trump are reshaping Brazil–US commerce.
The big story is the clash between sweeping US tariff policy and a fragile attempt at a Brazil reset. Choices Magazine explains that Trump’s April 2, 2025 “Liberation Day” tariffs set a baseline 10% duty on most imports, with higher rates of 11% to 50% on 57 countries, including Brazil. This pushed average US tariffs from about 2.2% to nearly 18%, the steepest jump in almost a century, with Brazil hit by tariffs as high as 50% on some goods.
The Associated Press, cited in Choices, reports that Trump justified these steep Brazil tariffs partly as punishment for Brasília’s treatment of former president Jair Bolsonaro and broader political grievances, turning tariffs into a geopolitical weapon rather than a narrow trade tool. Trade economists writing in Choices estimate that a 50% tariff on Brazilian products slashed US imports from Brazil by roughly 36%, or about $1.1 billion, especially in coffee, processed fruits, nuts, vegetables, and meat—key items for US consumers.
According to The Rio Times, Trump went even further in late July 2025, signing an executive order that declared a national emergency linked to Brazil and layered an additional 40% duty on a wide range of Brazilian-origin goods. That 40% add-on was imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA, intensifying cost pressure on Brazilian exporters and US importers alike.
But there are early signs of a partial thaw. Trade analysts at the Atlantic Council note that Trump and Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva held a positive meeting in Malaysia in late October, elevating Brazil from target to tentative negotiating partner. The Atlantic Council reports that on November 20, the White House removed several Brazilian products—most notably beef and coffee—from the list subject to the extra 40% IEEPA tariffs, reflecting how dependent US supply chains are on Brazilian agriculture.
A December 2025 customs and trade update from law firm ArentFox Schiff adds a key detail: the United States has now exempted 238 tariff subheadings of Brazilian agricultural products from the 40% IEEPA rate. That means a growing share of Brazil’s farm exports—coffee, tropical fruits and juices, cocoa, spices, and some beef and fertilizer—can enter under sharply reduced or standard tariff levels, even as industrial and chemical goods still face steep duties.
Yet the pain is far from over. Argus Media reports that Brazilian rosin ester producers are already losing first‑quarter 2026 orders, as US buyers walk away from imports that face 50% tariffs. In other words, for many Brazilian exporters outside agriculture, Trump’s tariff regime remains very much in force, and the costs are immediate.
At the same time, the Atlantic Council points out that Washington is actively debating whether to roll back the additional 40% Brazil tariffs more broadly in 2026, especially if the US Supreme Court curbs the use of IEEPA for tariff policy. A ruling against IEEPA‑based tariffs could destabilize the entire structure of Trump’s Brazil surcharges and force a rapid reset.
For listeners, the picture is clear: the US is cautiously carving out relief for strategic Brazilian agricultural imports while keeping heavy pressure on other sectors. Negotiations between Trump and Lula, plus looming court decisions, will determine whether that 40% layer on Brazilian goods becomes a brief shock or a long‑term feature of US–Brazil trade.
Thanks for tuning in to Brazil Tariff News and Tracker, and don’t forget to subscribe so you don’t miss the next update. This has been a quiet please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai.
For more check out
Show more...