Brazil says there are no justifications for tariffs imposed by the US.

The Brazilian government issued a statement repudiating the United States' (US) decision, announced this Wednesday (15), to impose 25% tariffs on products from Brazil. The US measure will take effect from the 22nd, based on investigations carried out by the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR). The statement, signed by the Secretariat of Social Communication (Secom) of the Presidency of the Republic, emphasizes that Brazil does not recognize the legitimacy of these investigations, which would not be supported by multilateral trade rules. It adds that there is no justification for unilateral measures by the United States against Brazil. "July 15, 2026 will go down in the history of relations between Brazil and the US as a regrettable milestone." The statement also says that the Brazilian Reciprocity Law will be activated "immediately," in addition to instruments for conflict resolution within the World Trade Organization (WTO). "Brazil will immediately begin the procedures to activate the instruments foreseen in the Reciprocity Law, unanimously approved by the National Congress, and will take up the issue again within the framework of the WTO dispute settlement mechanism."

Claims

The investigation initiated a year ago by the USTR concluded that certain Brazilian practices are inappropriate and burden or restrict trade for American farmers, workers, innovators, and exporters. Among the measures cited by the USTR are “digital commerce practices and electronic payment services; unfair preferential tariffs; anti-corruption interference; intellectual property protection; access to the ethanol market; and illegal deforestation.” In its defense, however, the Brazilian government says that the allegations against Pix and the regulation of digital platforms are unfounded. “Just as absurd are the accusations about deforestation. Pix is an asset of our people and an international benchmark for public digital infrastructure. In Brazil, we will not abdicate our responsibility to protect our families and our children against the greed of a handful of techno-oligarchs,” the statement reads. Furthermore, the statement continues, “freedom of expression is not a carte blanche for crime. The whole world knows that, starting in 2023, we have been decisively combating environmental crimes and drastically reducing deforestation in all Brazilian biomes.” According to the Brazilian government's statement, in the public hearings promoted by the USTR last week, there were 78 interventions from representatives of the private sector from both countries, 63 of which were against the US tariff increase. “According to statistics from the US government itself, the US has accumulated US$424.5 billion in a surplus of goods and services with Brazil over the last 15 years. In 2025, 76% of imports originating from the US entered the country without paying import tax, and the average rate effectively applied to US products was only 3.1%,” says the statement from the Presidency. The statement concludes by informing that Brazil will continue to adopt measures to reduce the damage caused to the country's economy and to Brazilians, and that it will continue to seek to diversify trading partners to open new markets for Brazilian products. "Through the Sovereign Brazil Plan, we will maintain measures to protect sectors affected by illegal and arbitrarily imposed tariffs by the US government, preserving jobs and national productive capacity."

This text was translated by machine from Brazilian Portuguese.