Brazil Expects U.S. Tariff Proposal by Next Week, Minister Says

Brazil expects the United States to submit an initial draft of a trade agreement by early next week, outlining which sectors Washington wants to gain access to in the Brazilian market at lower tariffs, Industry and Trade Minister Márcio Elias Rosa said Tuesday (Nov. 3).

According to the minister, U.S. officials made the commitment in late September, during the countries’ most recent in-person meeting on the issue. “My understanding is that they are working on the document to send us. We’ve held informal talks in the meantime,” Elias Rosa said.

The minister said he does not yet know which sectors the United States will seek to open up to trade. Brazil will respond with a counterproposal outlining its own areas of interest, he added.

U.S. Tariff Proposal Follows New Duties on Brazilian Exports

Two new rounds of tariffs imposed by the Trump administration have been in effect on Brazilian goods since July. The first introduced a 25% tariff over alleged unfair trade practices, while the second imposed an additional 12.5% over alleged failures to curb imports of goods produced with forced labor.

According to Brazil’s National Confederation of Industry (CNI), both rounds of tariffs affect 3,985 Brazilian products, representing $10.8 billion (R$55 billion) in exports to the United States.

Earlier this year, U.S. officials also raised the possibility of a trade agreement with Brazil similar to the one recently signed between Washington and Argentina. Aides to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva considered the proposal unacceptable.

Source: Folha de S.Paulo

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