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The US has imposed a 25 per cent tariff on Brazilian imports from July 22, while exempting selected goods. The move sharpens trade tensions with Brasilia but leaves room for further negotiations.
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Washington,UPDATED: Jul 16, 2026 10:06 IST
The United States has announced a 25 per cent tariff on imports from Brazil after concluding that the country follows a range of what Washington called unfair trade practices. The tariffs, first proposed last month, will take effect on July 22.
The order makes exceptions for some goods that are not produced in the US or are seen as important to supply chains. These include coffee, beef, oranges and orange juice, some oil and gas energy products, and aerospace parts and components.
The Office of the US Trade Representative said, after a year-long investigation, that Brazil’s practices included weak anti-corruption enforcement and unfair tariffs of its own, among other actions the US described as unreasonable and unfair. This comes even though the US has had a goods trade surplus with Brazil for years.
US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said the move was needed to make sure American workers and companies compete fairly. “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,” he said.
After US officials said in early June that they were proposing the tariffs, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva reacted sharply. He pointed instead to political factors and blamed his rival in the country’s October elections, Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, who had recently visited Washington. Flavio Bolsonaro is the son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, an ally of President Donald Trump.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in a post on X announcing the tariffs, said: “Let there be no confusion about why: President Lula and his government have not negotiated with the US in good faith. His economic policies are bad for Americans and bad for Brazilians. 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.”
The tariffs are being imposed under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, which allows the US to investigate another country’s trade practices. In February, the US Supreme Court had ruled against many of Trump’s tariffs imposed under a different law, the Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977, saying he had gone beyond his authority in imposing sweeping tariffs on trading partners, including Brazil.
Trump had earlier used that law to impose a 50 per cent tariff on Brazil in protest against the prosecution of Jair Bolsonaro over attempts to overturn his defeat in the 2022 election. However, Trump’s relationship with Lula appeared to improve in May when Lula visited the White House. The latest decision now puts a 25 per cent tariff on Brazilian imports, while exempting a list of products and keeping the door open for further talks.
With PTI Inputs
- Ends
Published By:
India Today Web Desk
Published On:
Jul 16, 2026 10:06 IST
