USTR sets a 25 percent tariff on Brazilian goods entered from July 22

Goods from Brazil entered for consumption on or after 12:01 eastern time on July 22 carry an additional 25 percent duty. The Office of the United States Trade Representative set the rate in a notice of action under Sections 301(b) and 304(a) of the Trade Act of 1974, filed for public inspection on July 17 and scheduled for publication on July 20. The action follows a presidential memorandum of July 15 directing a 25 percent tariff on all goods of Brazil with exemptions for products named in an annex. The investigation ran a year. USTR opened it on July 15, 2025 into Brazilian practices on digital trade and electronic payment services, preferential tariffs, anti-corruption enforcement, intellectual property protection, ethanol market access and illegal deforestation, and determined on June 1 that certain of those practices are actionable. Interested persons filed more than 360 written submissions, and 77 witnesses testified across a two-day hearing on July 6 and 7. The Trade Representative told the President that consultations with Brazil had not resolved the concerns.

Exempted goods include informational materials, donations, accompanied baggage and articles already subject to Section 232 tariffs. USTR kept every product proposed for exemption in June except high-purity dissolving pulp, and added categories including pig iron, iron and steel waste and scrap, organic honey, unflavoured instant coffee, used clothing, aluminium hydroxide, certain seafood, certain wood products and certain hides and leather. Exemptions for certain chemicals were narrowed to their pharmaceutical applications.