Brazil rebuts U.S. proposal for new tariffs

RIO DE JANEIRO, June 3 (Xinhua) — The Brazilian government on Tuesday rebutted a U.S. proposal to impose new tariffs on Brazilian products, expressing “indignation” over what it called unfair trade practices by the United States.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative proposed tariffs of up to 25 percent on Brazilian products following a trade investigation concluded on Monday. The investigation accused Brazil of adopting practices that “burden or restrict” trade with the United States.

“There was and is no justification for these unilateral measures against our country or against Brazilian assets such as PIX (Brazil’s instant payment platform), explicitly mentioned in the preliminary recommendations,” the government said in a statement.

Data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis show that the U.S. trade surplus in goods and services with Brazil reached 424.5 billion U.S. dollars over the 15-year period from 2011 to 2025.

Last year, 76 percent of U.S. imports into Brazil entered without paying import tax, and the average effective tariff rate on U.S. products in Brazil was only 3.1 percent.

“The main effect of the unilateral, politically motivated tariffs has been to damage Brazil’s economy, job and income generation, as well as to diminish the U.S. role as our trading partner,” said the government.

The statement added that the U.S. share of Brazilian exports fell to an all-time low of 9.4 percent in the first quarter of 2026.

The Brazilian government reaffirmed its right to resort to reciprocal measures, but reiterated that it would adopt any and all measures capable of mitigating potential damage to the economy.

The statement also criticized the Bolsonaro family’s actions against national interests, noting that the coordination between Brazil’s executive branch and the U.S. government has been sabotaged.