The Trump administration has proposed a punitive new 25 percent tariff on many imports from Brazil after concluding that the South American country's practices are unfair in a range of areas from digital commerce to illegal deforestation, Jamieson Greer, the top trade official, said on Monday, according to Reuters.
The measures, under Section 301 trade legislation, cover areas such as electronic payment services, preferential tariffs, intellectual property protection and ethanol market access, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) said.
The proposed new tax, which is subject to public consultation before a July 15 deadline, will exclude some products such as beef, coffee, rare earths, other metals and aircraft parts.
The USTR said its investigation into Brazil's unfair trade practices, begun last year under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, had identified practices that “are unreasonable and burden or restrict US trade,” paving the way for a punitive tax.
Brazil's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Two Brazilian officials familiar with the matter said the justifications for a new US tariff ignore many of the arguments made by Brasilia, Brazil's capital, in recent months, suggesting the reasons are political rather than technical.
Despite President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's visit to the White House last month, bilateral relations have cooled.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has designated Brazil's two largest criminal gangs as terrorist organizations, despite objections from Brazil, paving the way for more aggressive interventions in the country.
Days before, Lula's main rival in the October election, Sen. Flavio Bolsonaro, spoke out in favor of the terrorist organization label during a visit to Washington that included meetings with Rubio, Vice President JD Vance and President Donald Trump.
“We specifically asked President Trump not to impose tariffs on our companies,” Bolsonaro wrote on Tuesday on X. “Tariffs are not the solution.”
The USTR's proposed new tariffs would partially replace a 50 percent tariff on many Brazilian products imposed by Trump last year, with 40 percent as punishment over the prosecution of the Brazilian senator's father, former President Jair Bolsonaro.
The US Supreme Court struck down those charges in February.
In a statement, Jamieson Greer said it launched the Section 301 investigation to address “long-standing and pervasive US concerns about certain Brazilian trade policies and practices.”
Despite recent dialogue with Brazilian President Inacio Lula da Silva and his cabinet, Greer said the United States and Brazil “continue to have substantial differences in addressing the issues identified in this investigation.”
Public hearing on July 6
The Trade Agency requested comments on the proposed tariffs until July 1, with a public hearing scheduled for July 6. USTR has a July 15 deadline to take “responsive action” in its Section 301 investigation.
Trump used the same statute to impose sweeping tariffs on Chinese goods during his first term.
USTR has several other Section 301 investigations underway and these are expected to result in new tariffs.
These include one targeting industrial overcapacity in China and 15 other trading partner countries, as well as one on the enforcement of forced labor bans in 60 countries.
The agency on Friday opened a new investigation into Vietnam's intellectual property practices.
Regarding its findings regarding Brazil, the USTR states that the proposed new 25% tax would not apply to Brazilian imports subject to national security-related taxes under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962.
These include 50% duties on steel, aluminum and copper and 25% duties on finished products made from these metals, as well as a 25% duty on motor vehicles and auto parts.
USTR also said products exempt from the proposed 25 percent tariffs include many fruits and nuts, crude oil and petroleum products, pharmaceutical compounds, organic chemicals and fertilizers.
These are added to beef, coffee, rare earths, certain other metals and ores, and Brazilian aircraft and aircraft parts.
