The United States will impose a 25 percent tariff on most imports from Brazil starting July 22, the Office of the US Trade Representative said on Wednesday, Reuters reported.
It is the first measure under the new tariff strategy of the Donald Trump administration, which could eventually include dozens of countries.
The new program, launched after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a central part of Trump's tariff system earlier this year, is based on investigations into unfair trade practices under Section 301 of the U.S. Trade Act.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has launched nearly 80 trade investigations, and a new wave of tariffs could hit dozens of countries, including China, the European Union, India, Japan, South Korea and Mexico.
Wednesday's decision followed a proposal by the Trump administration in June to impose punitive tariffs of 25 percent on many products from Brazil, after Brazil's practices were deemed unfair in a range of areas, from digital trade to illegal deforestation.
"Extensive negotiations with Brazil over the past year have not resolved these issues, but we remain open to continuing negotiations with Brazil to implement long-needed steps to address the concerns identified in this investigation," US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said in a statement.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said the US decision had no justification.
Brazil will immediately initiate procedures to use the instruments provided for in the "Reciprocity Law" and reconsider the issue within the dispute settlement mechanism of the World Trade Organization (WTO), Lula wrote on the X platform.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who was accused by Lula in June of having an anti-Latin American stance after the tariff announcement, blamed the Brazilian president and said that "Lula and his government did not negotiate with the US in good faith."
"Over the past year, Lula has put his own ego ahead of reaching an agreement for the good of the Brazilian people, and these tariffs are the price of that," Rubio wrote in a scathing post on X.
Coffee, beef, pig iron and aircraft exempt from customs duties
The tariffs will apply to thousands of Brazilian products, including sugar, agricultural machinery, clothing, electrical appliances, paper and steel.
The US said it would exempt all products that were proposed for tariff exemption in the June notice, except for high-purity cellulose for dissolving grades and non-pharmaceutical applications of certain products.
Exceptions include: beef, coffee, rare earth metals, energy products, aircraft and aircraft parts.
The US on Wednesday added organic honey, raw iron, instant coffee without additives and some other products to the list of exceptions.
The investigation against Brazil, launched last July, covered a number of alleged unfair practices, including illegal deforestation and Brazil's Pix instant payment system, which the US government claims places credit card companies at a disadvantage.
Brazil has strongly denied all allegations.
Brazil is also involved in a separate Section 301 investigation led by the USTR, which is scheduled to conclude on July 24. The investigation concerns links to forced labor in the supply chains of dozens of countries.
It is expected that the investigation could lead to an additional tariff of 12,5 percent, bringing the total burden on Brazilian products to 37,5 percent.
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