US to impose new 25 percent tariffs on some Brazilian imports

Beef, coffee, and rare-earth materials escaped US tariffs amid trade tensions with Brazil over alleged unfair practices.The United States is set to impose 25 percent duties on thousands of Brazilian imports, including sugar, apparel, paper, and steel, as the White House revamps its tariff policy.The new tariffs on Brazil were announced late on Wednesday by the US trade representative. These mark the first set of tariffs under the White House’s new trade strategy using Section 301, a provision in existing US trade law that allows for investigations into so-called unfair trade practices, which the US then uses to justify levies imposed against a country.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4My Twitter, not Xlist 2 of 4How US-Iran escalation will test Iraq’s balancing actlist 3 of 4Authors, publishers sue Google over alleged AI copyright infringementlist 4 of 4xAI sues user for exploiting AI tool to sexualise minorsend of listThe tariffs, which were proposed last month, are set to take effect on July 22, and will include a broad range of exceptions for products, including beef and coffee — both of which have become more expensive for US consumers over the last year amid US President Donald Trump’s trade war.Beef prices are up 11.8 percent compared with this time last year, according to the most recent Consumer Price Index report released by the US Labor Department, and coffee is up 12 percent.Exemptions would also cover some rare-earth materials, aircraft parts, and certain oil and gas products.Despite the US maintaining a growing trade surplus with Brazil, $14.4bn in 2025, up from $7.7bn in 2024, the new tariffs come amid the conclusion of a yearlong investigation that alleged that Brazil has engaged in unfair trade practices against the US, including on issues related to digital trade and illegal deforestation efforts.However, Brazilian officials, including President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, have long decried those allegations, suggesting they were politically motivated, following the South American nation’s prosecution of former President Jair Bolsonaro, a key Trump ally, for his involvement in a coup attempt.