US and Brazil

US and Brazil trade: the tariffs in force, and what each side is actually up against

Last verified 2 October 2026

This changes fast. On 30 September 2026 Brazil and the US agreed to set up a working group on a possible agreement, and the US proposal for its scope is still to come. Anything below may be out of date by the time you read it: check the date above, and the lists in the Federal Register notices, before relying on a number.

What is in force

Section 301 on Brazil: 25%

On 15 July 2026 USTR took final action under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974: a 25% tariff on all imports from Brazil, with listed exemptions, in force from 22 July 2026 (Federal Register 2026-14542). The notice does not name the sectors it covers. It names what is exempt, including every article subject to a Section 232 tariff, and that exemption list is the document that matters for any specific manufacturer.

Section 301 on forced labor: 10% or 12.5%

A separate final action imposes 10% or 12.5% on 60 trading partners. The lower rate goes to economies that ban imports made with forced labor, have committed to do so in a trade agreement, or have a partial ban. Brazil is in the 12.5% group (Federal Register 2026-15181). It took effect on 24 July 2026 and applies on top of the 25%. Articles and parts of articles subject to Section 232 tariffs are outside this action.

The stack: 37.5%

According to Amcham Brasil, the 12.5% layer affects about 3,000 products worth US$12.5 billion in exports to the US, and 85.3% of those sales, about US$10.7 billion, carry both layers: 37.5 percentage points on top of the normal duty. Other agencies publish different totals because they measure a different scope, so figures from different sources should not be combined.

Section 232 on steel, aluminum and copper

Since 6 April 2026 (Proclamation 11021), Section 232 is charged on the full customs value of the imported good rather than its metal content: 50% or 25%, depending on the annex that lists the product. A temporarily reduced rate, 15% in total and in force until 31 December 2027, covers fixed industrial machinery and power equipment and, since 8 June 2026 (Proclamation 11032), agricultural equipment and certain HVAC equipment mainly for residential use. This is a separate regime from Section 301, which is why metal articles from Brazil have to be checked under 232, not under the stack above.

Where the negotiation stands

Brazil opened a reciprocity process against the US on 13 August 2026. Opening it does not mean countermeasures have been decided.
After a phone call between Presidents Lula and Trump on 21 August, ministers Mauro Vieira and Márcio Elias Rosa met USTR Jamieson Greer in Milwaukee on 30 September 2026. They agreed to set up a working group on a possible agreement, and the US is to send, in the coming weeks, a proposal for its scope covering tariff and non-tariff issues. No tariff was changed.

The two directions are different problems

It is tempting to describe US and Brazil trade as one corridor with two lanes. The barriers are not the same on each side, and marketing does not help equally with both.

Brazil to the US

Tariffs, and being unknown.

Up to 37.5 percentage points on the goods that carry both Section 301 layers. And a buyer who, per the 2026 State of Marketing to Engineers, leans towards a familiar brand: 70% of technical buyers say they are likely or very likely to choose the better-known brand when two solutions are technically similar.

Marketing can help, partly: brand familiarity, presence where engineers read, content an AI assistant can cite.

US to Brazil

Certification, and a local party.

Products on INMETRO’s mandatory list need an INMETRO conformity assessment and registration before they can be sold in Brazil, and for many of them that means certification by a body accredited by INMETRO. ANATEL approval applies to telecom products, and ANVISA’s GMP certificate is a condition for registering certain regulated health products.

Marketing does not shorten this. What it can do is narrower: find and qualify the local partner, prepare material in Portuguese, position the product for its channel.

Before you rely on any of this

Find your HTS code in the exception lists of both Section 301 Federal Register notices.
If the product is primarily steel, aluminum or copper, or a listed derivative, work from Section 232, not from the Section 301 stack.
Check the date at the top of this page against the news.

Sources