Brazil: US Enacts New 25% Tariff on a Wide Set of Brazilian Exports (Ramos)

Research evidence excerpt

Brazil: US Enacts New 25% Tariff on a Wide Set of Brazilian Exports (Ramos)

Economics Research

16 July 2026 | 12:04PM EDT

Brazil: US Enacts New 25% Tariff on a Wide Set of Brazilian Exports

(Ramos)

The Office of the USTR announced on July 15 that is taking final action, under Alberto Ramos

+1(212)357-5768 |

Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, to levy a 25% tariff on certain goods of Brazil alberto.ramos@gs.com

Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC

(effective July 22). This follows a yearlong investigation and the early June USTR

preliminary report of its unfair trade practices investigation into Brazil. The report

recommends a new 25% tariff on many imports from Brazil after determining that

the country’s practices were unfair on digital trade and electronic payment services,

preferential tariffs (e.g., with Mexico and India), anti-corruption enforcement,

intellectual property protection, ethanol market access and illegal deforestation. The

USTR states that the negotiations with Brazil over the past year have not resolved the

identified issues, and that it remains “open to continuing negotiations with Brazil to

bring about long-needed changes to the problems identified in this investigation”.

The USTR proposed new tariffs exclude a number of key items such as coffee, orange

juice, beef, rare earths, selected metals, fertilizers, pharma products, and aircraft

parts. The set of exemptions/exclusions is broader than that of the preliminary June

report, now including items such as pharma inputs, instant coffee, some wood/metal

products, etc.

Overall, the new exemptions cover an additional US$2.1bn in US imports from

Brazil, rendering the 25% Brazil specific Section 301 Tariff binding on 26% of

imports from Brazil (US$10.2bn), compared to 31% (US$12.3bn) under the June