Brazil and the United States will resume technical negotiations next Monday (31) over the tariff package imposed by Donald Trump's administration on Brazilian products. The minister of Development, Industry, Trade and Services, Márcio Elias Rosa, and the United States Trade Representative, Jamieson Greer, will hold a virtual meeting at 2:30 p.m. Brasília time. The meeting was confirmed by the Brazilian ministry, according to reports by Carta Capital and Agência Brasil.
The resumption was arranged after a phone call between President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Donald Trump last Friday (21). The call lasted about one hour and twenty minutes and, according to the Planalto Palace, Brazil's seat of government, had a cordial tone. Lula defended reopening negotiations, said the American justifications for the tariffs are unfounded and argued that the measures hurt both economies. Trump agreed on the need to preserve the trade relationship and signaled that technical teams would talk again.
According to Carta Capital, the Brazilian government's first goal will be to expand the list of products exempt from the additional tariffs. Only in a second stage does Brazil intend to discuss a full reversal of the measures. Since the tariffs were announced, the government counts more than 30 contacts with American authorities at different levels.
What is at stake
The United States has applied two rounds of surcharges on Brazilian products this year. In July, the Office of the US Trade Representative imposed an additional 25% tariff on items such as iron and steel, apparel, footwear, sugar, ethanol, pharmaceutical products and machinery, after an investigation that pointed to Brazilian practices allegedly harmful to bilateral trade, including issues related to Pix, Brazil's instant payment system, and the regulation of digital platforms. A second surcharge of 12.5% then hit other products, under the claim that Brazil lacks effective mechanisms to block imports of goods made with forced labor. Combined, the charges raise the tariff on some items to 37.5%.
Not all products are covered. Oil, coffee and beef are among the items free of the additional duties. According to a survey by the Development Ministry cited by Agência Brasil, the tariffs in force since late July affect about US$ 6.6 billion in Brazilian exports to the American market.
Alongside the direct negotiation, Brazil has already filed a request for consultations at the World Trade Organization (WTO), arguing that the tariffs are inconsistent with the body's rules, and the United States agreed to take part in the process. The Brazilian government has also announced the opening of an economic reciprocity process and stresses that, in the trade relationship between the two countries, the United States runs a surplus, meaning it sells more to Brazil than it buys.