Trade between Brazil and the United States totaled US$36.4 billion in the first half of 2026, a 12.8% decrease compared to the same period last year. Brazilian exports to the US market fell 13.0% to US$17.4 billion, while imports dropped 12.5%, totaling US$19.0 billion, according to the January-June edition of the Brazil-US Trade Monitor, prepared by Amcham Brazil. This performance reduced the United States' share of Brazilian exports to 9.4%, the lowest percentage in the historical series for a first semester since 1997. The US share of Brazilian trade also reached its lowest level in the series, at 11.1%. Despite the decline, the United States remains Brazil's second-largest trading partner in goods and the largest destination for industrial exports. The performance contrasts with the growth of Brazilian exports to the world (+11.5%) and to relevant partners, such as China (+21.9%) and the European Union (+12.8%) in the first half of 2026. “The first half of the year confirms that bilateral trade is going through a period of strong pressure and reinforces the need for an agreement that avoids the application of new tariffs within the framework of the Section 301 investigation. If implemented, the surcharges could further compromise trade between Brazil and the United States,” says Abrão Neto, president of Amcham Brazil. Amcham's analysis shows that goods subject to surcharges accounted for most of the decline in Brazilian exports in the first half of the year. While sales of surcharged products fell by 16.6%, exports of goods without surcharges decreased by 8.7%. Among the products subject to additional tariffs, items subject to the 10% tariff registered a drop of 25.9%, while products covered by Section 232 decreased by 6.7%. The biggest impacts occurred in products such as semi-finished iron and steel (-21.7%), trucks (-46.7%), wood (-40.5%) and copper (-37.4%). Since the US Supreme Court's decision in February, which revoked the additional tariffs applied based on the IEEPA, the universe of Brazilian products exempt from surcharges has increased from 382 to 1,488 items. Even so, additional tariffs of 10% (Section 122) and up to 50% for products classified under Section 232 remain in effect, maintaining high pressure on a significant portion of Brazil's export portfolio.
Decline in exports is halted in June.
Despite the negative result for the first half of the year, June showed a sign of improvement. Brazilian exports to the United States grew 3.7% in value compared to June 2025, interrupting a sequence of ten consecutive months of decline. The advance was mainly sustained by products without surcharges, which grew 35.8%, driven by aircraft (+299.4%) and petroleum fuel oils (+89.3%). Surcharged goods, however, continued to contract, falling 17.0% in the month.
Industrial exports fall by US$1.4 billion.
The impact was particularly intense on industrial products. Comparing the first halves of 2026 and 2025, exports from the sector to the United States fell from US$16.0 billion to US$14.6 billion, a decrease of US$1.4 billion. Even with this contraction, the manufacturing industry remained the main component of Brazilian exports to the United States, accounting for 83.9% of sales to the American market. Some of the main products exported in the first half of the year in the sector with increased sales include aircraft (+32.9%), civil engineering equipment (+23.8%), and electrical power machinery (+16.0%). Conversely, products such as crude oil (-30.4%), unroasted coffee (-34.8%), semi-finished iron and steel products (-21.7%), and cellulose (-9.4%) registered significant declines.
This text was translated by machine from Brazilian Portuguese.