Following the additional tariffs imposed by the United States (US) on part of Brazil's exports, the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (ApexBrasil) announced a R$ 130 million plan, to be launched in August, to diversify Brazilian sales abroad and reduce the impacts of US tariffs, according to a note from "Agência Brasil". Linked to the Ministry of Development, Industry, Trade and Services (Mdic), ApexBrasil reported that the plan will be launched in partnership with 57 economic sectors in the country, in the most diverse areas, which bring together 2,400 exporting companies. “We already expand into other markets. What we are going to work on now is diversification. It is a new look at new opportunities from a new scenario of international trade,” explained, this Friday (17), the president of ApexBrasil, Laudemir Müller, in a press conference. The head of the state agency said that the priorities are the European Union market, especially given the recent agreement with Mercosur, as well as the countries that are part of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, among others, which have high growth rates. Central Asian countries, such as Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, are also among the possible new markets to be explored by Brazilian companies affected by the US tariffs. "These are high-growth and developing countries; they have been looking to Brazil for investment partnerships and are growing at 7% or 8% [of Gross Domestic Product, GDP], with a young population, and they demand products that Brazil has," he said.
Trump's tariff hike
On Wednesday (15), the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) confirmed an additional 25% tariff on Brazilian products, alleging supposed "unfair" trade practices by Brazil. The Brazilian government rejects the justifications used for the taxation, claiming that the measure is politically motivated and that Washington demanded total market opening without reciprocity. The new tariffs are effective from July 22. The products affected by the tariffs announced on Wednesday corresponded to US$ 7.2 billion in exports to the US last year. The total value sold to the country in 2025 totaled US$ 38 billion, according to data from ApexBrasil. During negotiations, the list of tariff-exempt products increased from 615 to 699, raising the tariff-free value from US$20.6 billion to US$22.8 billion of total exports, considering data from 2025. The president of the institution for Brazilian exports stated that in the first half of the year, there was a reduction of approximately US$2.6 billion in exports to the US, a result of previously applied tariffs. “But we had an increase of US$3.1 billion to Europe, US$2.5 billion to India, and US$10.5 billion to China, just to mention some of the most important destinations,” said Laudemir Müller. Mercosur negotiations with India, Japan, and Canada were also highlighted as opportunities to diversify Brazil's foreign trade, reducing its dependence on the United States.
Diversification has already begun.
The president of ApexBrasil emphasized that this diversification effort has been underway since the first tariffs imposed by the US, back in 2025. “This means that 72% of the 2,400 companies that export to the US and are supported by ApexBrasil have already diversified their market between June 2025 and May 2026. During this period, they added at least one new destination for their exports,” he said. According to Müller, some markets are easier to open, while others will require medium- or long-term work. “There are other sectors that will take a little longer and may be more complex. Often we even need to create the market in another country. We will have to approach the Chinese market, for example, to say, 'look, there is a Brazilian rock that has such characteristics and it can also serve your market',” he explained.
Brazil is sought after by the world.
Despite the difficulties, the president of Apex Brasil believes that the country has stood out in the world as a "friendly country, a stable supplier." "So much so that we had US$77 billion in investment inflows last year. We were the fifth largest recipient of investments in the world. Developing countries saw a 2% growth in attracting investments, Brazil saw a 22% growth in attracting investments and is already the main destination for Chinese investments," he concluded.
This text was translated by machine from Brazilian Portuguese.