Alckmin: Government speeds up negotiations with the U.S. to reduce tariffs and increase exports

Vice President of the Republic and Minister of Development, Industry, Trade and Services, Geraldo Alckmin, said this Friday (28) that the government is in a hurry in its negotiations with the U.S. administration to reverse the higher tariffs — up to 50% — applied to Brazilian products sold to the United States. The American tariff hike still affects 22% of Brazilian exports to the country, especially industrial goods such as machinery and equipment.

“We will work hard to reduce this rate, because it makes no sense to have a 40% or 50% tariff when, among the ten products the United States sells the most to us, eight have zero tariffs and the average rate is 2.7%,” Alckmin said in an interview with the press after the inauguration ceremony of Inmetro’s cybercrime division.

“So we will speed up this work to remove more products and seize new opportunities for economic complementarity between Brazil and the United States. We can create a win-win scenario: more reciprocal investment, more foreign trade,” he added.

Once again, Alckmin stressed that President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s directive is to maintain dialogue with the Americans. “We are in a hurry because the faster we resolve this, the more we export. And foreign trade means jobs and income,” the vice president said.

See below a historical series of Brazilian container exports to the United States starting in January 2022. The chart was created using DataLiner data:

Brazilian Container Exports to the United States | Jan 2022 to Sep 2025 | TEU

Source: DataLiner (Click here to request a demo)

Trade balance

The good news, according to Alckmin, is that even with the tariff hikes, Brazilian exports grew 9.1%, citing October trade balance data.

Emphasizing the importance of opening new markets abroad, Alckmin reiterated expectations for the signing of the Mercosur–European Union agreement on December 20.

Drop in unemployment

He also highlighted the announcement this Friday by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), which showed the unemployment rate at a historic low of 5.4% in the quarter ending in October. “So, it’s a good moment. And it can get even better,” the vice president said.

Source: Times Brasil

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