FOREIGN AFFAIRS
The USTR drops another hammer on Brazil
“Pix belongs to Brazil.” The government believes that Brazilians’ love for the country’s instant payment system will bring electoral benefits. Photo: Ricardo Stuckert/PR
As Brasília was still gauging the fallout from the US Trade Representative's call for 25% tariffs on many Brazilian exports — over what Washington calls “unfair trade practices” — the office dropped another bombshell: it found that 54 economies, Brazil included, had failed to ban imports made with forced labor, and proposed an additional 12.5% duty on their goods.
👉 Why it matters. Layered onto the 10% blanket levy President Donald Trump applied to all trading partners in February, both measures read less like a negotiation than an effective slow-motion embargo on Brazil's manufactured exports.
Even with carve-outs for some agricultural products, between 21% and 25% of Brazilian shipments to the US are set to be affected by new incoming tariffs, depending on the estimate. Brokerage firm XP reckoned that, even if just the 25% tariff is confirmed, the average effective US rate on Brazilian goods would jump from 12.2% to 18.5%, mostly affecting:
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