Trade ministers of the G20, the group that brings together the world's largest economies, gathered this week in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and on the margins of that meeting Brazil and the United States agreed on Wednesday (30) to create a working group to discuss a possible trade agreement. According to the newspaper Folha de S.Paulo, the meeting lasted about 40 minutes and brought together Brazil's foreign minister, Mauro Vieira, the minister of Development, Industry, Trade and Services, Márcio Elias Rosa, and the US trade representative, Jamieson Greer.

The deal comes two months after Washington imposed two rounds of tariffs that together reach 37.5 percent on Brazilian goods. The largest, 25 percent, followed the conclusion in July of an investigation by the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), opened in 2025 under Section 301 of US trade law, which examined digital commerce, tariffs, intellectual property, access for American ethanol to the Brazilian market and deforestation. The second round, 12.5 percent, was applied on the claim that Brazil failed to curb imports of goods from countries where forced labor is used, as reported by G1, Globo's news service. The United States is Brazil's second largest trading partner, behind only China.

What it means for Brazil

For the government of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the meeting produced no concrete advance in the negotiations, an outcome Brasília already expected, and the working assumption there is that talks will only move after Brazil's general election, whose first round is scheduled for October 4. The main novelty, according to officials at Itamaraty, Brazil's foreign ministry, quoted by Folha, is the nature of the new mechanism: unlike the group created during the Section 301 investigation, the new table will be dedicated to the possibility of an agreement between the two countries. In a joint statement, the two ministries announced the next steps:

"The US government will send, in the coming weeks, a document with a proposal for the scope of the work, covering tariff and non-tariff issues. The creation of a working group to discuss topics related to a possible agreement was also agreed."

The interests on the table are well defined. Washington wants wider access to the Brazilian market for American ethanol and changes in intellectual property and digital commerce, areas where the White House says Brazilian practices, such as the Pix instant payment system, disadvantage US companies. Brasília wants the tariffs removed or reduced, and says its ministers "reaffirmed Brazil's willingness to advance, through dialogue and negotiation". The Milwaukee meeting continued a recent conversation between Lula and President Donald Trump, who agreed to instruct their teams to resume negotiations, according to the Brazilian government.

A parallel track at the WTO

While the new group takes shape, the dispute is already running at the World Trade Organization (WTO). Brazil opened a request for consultations arguing that the US treats it differently from other trading partners, and officials from both governments met last week in Geneva, at the organization's headquarters. A 60-day window opened for the two sides to reach a consensus; if it expires without a deal, either party can request a dispute panel. China formally asked to join the process, and the US spoke against Chinese participation.

So far, according to Brazilian diplomats cited by G1, the Americans have shown no sign of rolling the tariffs back. The document promised for the coming weeks will define the scope of the talks and will be the first test of the new working group.