US Imposes 25 Percent Tariff on Some Brazilian Imports Over Negotiation Impasse

The United States has imposed a ‌25 percent tariff on some Brazilian imports for its unfair trade practices and policies in bilateral trade, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said on the July 15 statutory deadline.The deadline marks the end of negotiations following a year-long investigation that found certain Brazilian actions and trade policies regarding the United States to be “unreasonable and burden or restrict the commerce of American farmers, workers, innovators, and exporters.”“Today’s action is necessary to address these unfair trade practices to ensure American workers and companies can compete on a level playing field,” U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson ⁠Greer said.“Extensive negotiations” with Brazilian President ​Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and his government over the past year “have not resolved these issues,” he added, but the U.S. government remains open to continuing talks “to bring about long-needed changes to the problems identified in this investigation.”U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a July 15 post on X that the Brazilian government had “not negotiated with the US in good faith” and that Lula had “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 new tariff was announced under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, which allows the president’s trade representative to address alleged unfair foreign practices affecting U.S. commerce.Related StoryThe president’s trade ambassador said the tariff rate was set in light of Brazil’s “punishing U.S. technology companies for refusing to censor political speech, backsliding on anti-corruption enforcement, or allowing Brazilian farmers to exploit illegally logged land to gain an advantage over American farmers.”His office noted the areas of unfair treatment as digital trade and electronic payment services, preferential tariffs for other countries, anti-corruption interference, intellectual property protection, ethanol market access, and illegal deforestation.“A staggering 91 percent of deforestation in the Amazon was illegal harvesting between 2023 and 2024,” the office said in a post on X. “Illegally sourced timber products contribute to distorted global prices, resulting in the devaluation of U.S. wood products, with illegally sourced timber estimated to reduce legally sourced timber prices by 7 percent to 16 percent.”Lula’s office said in a post on X that it condemned the action.Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva speaks during the opening ceremony of Hannover Messe at the Hannover Congress Centrum in Hanover, Germany, on April 19, 2026. Fabian Bimmer/Reuters“There is no justification for unilateral measures against our country,” it said, arguing that the United States enjoys a trade surplus with Brazil and that it has taken action to combat and reduce deforestation.It also pushed back on U.S. demands regarding its regulations of digital platforms, saying, “We will not abdicate from protecting our families and our children against the greed of a handful of techno-oligarchs.”The president’s office said Brazil will “immediately begin the procedures to invoke the instruments provided for under the Reciprocity Law” and resume its challenge to the U.S. tariffs through the World Trade Organization’s dispute settlement system.New Tariff StrategyThis round of tariffs is the first under U.S. President Donald Trump’s new tariff strategy relying ‌on Section 301 of U.S. trade law.On July 9, 2025, Trump announced an additional 40 percent tariff on Brazil on top of the 10 percent reciprocal tariff, both imposed under emergency powers in the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).A week later, he ordered an investigation under Section 302(b)(1)(a) of the Trade Act regarding the acts, policies, and practices of the Brazilian government, alleging unfair treatment of the United States and partisan treatment of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.He also threatened to impose an additional 10 percent tariff on BRICS nations such as Brazil for their alleged dedollarization efforts.There was a partial removal of the 40 percent tariff in November 2025, when Trump decided to exempt some key agricultural products, including beef, coffee, cocoa, and fruits. Then, in February, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Trump’s IEEPA tariffs, providing relief to countries such as Brazil.Pieces of meat are stocked inside a refrigerator at a butcher shop in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on July 31, 2025. Pilar Olivares/ReutersThe Trump administration responded by imposing a new global tariff of 10 percent under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, which allows a president to impose temporary import surcharges in cases of fundamental international payment problems for 150 days unless extended by Congress. That window expires on July 24.Following public hearings and meetings with Lula and his ministers on May 7, Greer announced on June 1 the formal U.S. determination that certain trade practices and policies by Brazil remained unfair to the United States, setting the 25 percent tariff in place ahead of further public hearings on exemptions before implementation.Greer said at the time the 25 percent tariff would be targeted to avoid shortages in U.S. domestic supply and disruptions to the economy, and would not apply to articles for which additional duties “may not contribute substantially to the elimination of Brazil’s acts, policies and practices.”Exemptions also cover items for which no viable alternative supply sources exist. These include crude oil and petroleum products, pharmaceutical compounds, organic chemicals, fertilizers, beef, coffee, fruit, rare ​earths, certain other metals and ores, and aircraft parts.Robusta coffee fruits in Sao Gabriel da Palha, Espirito Santo state, Brazil, on May 2, 2018. Jose Roberto Gomes/ReutersThe additional tariff will also not apply to products already subject to national security tariffs under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, such as steel, aluminum, and copper.Greer said on July 15 that “safeguarding American economic interests against unfair trade practices is the bedrock of President Trump’s America First policies.”Total goods trade with Brazil, exports plus imports, reached an estimated $94.3 billion last year. The U.S. goods trade surplus with Brazil was $14.4 billion in 2025, a $7.7 billion increase from 2024.The United States exported goods worth about $54.3 billion to Brazil in 2025 and imported about $39.9 billion, down from $42.3 billion in 2024.Top exports for Brazil were crude oil, industrial metals, airplanes, and coffee, while the United States exported aircraft and parts, machinery, refined petroleum products, chemicals, and pharmaceuticals.Aldgra Fredly, Andrew Moran, Emel Akan, and Kimberly Hayek contributed to this report.