USTR in Brazil Section 301 Investigation Determination Proposes 25% Tariffs

On June 1, 2026, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR)  issued its determination that certain of Brazil’s acts, policies, and practices related to (i) digital trade and electronic payment services; (ii) unfair, preferential tariffs; (iii) anti-corruption enforcement; (iv) intellectual property protection; (v) ethanol market access; and (vi) illegal deforestation are unreasonable and burden or restrict U.S. commerce, and are thus actionable under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974. As a result of this affirmative determination, the USTR has issued a Federal Register notice setting forth the determination and the U.S. government’s proposed responsive action.  While public comments and a hearing are scheduled for July, USTR Jamieson Greer stated that the United States “continues to engage intensively with Brazil to seek resolution of U.S. concerns.”

This Section 301 investigation was initiated on July 15, 2025, with the USTR stating that Brazil’s unfair trade practices had restricted the ability of U.S. exporters to access its market for decades due to tariff and non-tariff barriers.  See Thompson Hine Update of July 16, 2025, for additional background information.  In issuing its Notice of Determination, the USTR sets forth various facts, incidents and responses to comments received during the course of the Section 301 investigation.  In response to the investigation’s findings, the USTR is proposing that appropriate action would include applying 25% tariffs on all goods of Brazil, with exemptions for certain goods,

These exclusions would include informational materials, donations, accompanied baggage, all articles and parts of articles subject to Section 232 tariffs, and certain products identified in the lengthy Annex attached to the Notice of Determination and set forth by the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) subheading and accompanying descriptive text.  According to the USTR, these proposed exemptions “include raw materials that if subject to the proposed additional tariffs could lead to the unavailability of domestic supply. They also include products that could cause economy wide disruptions if subject to the proposed additional tariffs; and certain products that cannot be grown or produced in sufficient quantities in the United States or obtained from other sources. The proposed exemptions include articles for which additional tariffs “may not contribute substantially to the elimination of Brazil’s acts, policies, and practices.”

Next Steps

The USTR is accepting public comments on the proposed actions and will hold a public hearing before a July 15, 2026 deadline to issue any formal responsive actions.

1. Interested persons should submit requests to appear at the public hearing, along with a summary of the testimony, by June 22, 2026.  Such requests must be submitted electronical on Docket No. USTR-2026-0397 at https://comments.ustr.gov/s/.
2. Public comments on the proposed actions are due no later than July 1, 2026.  These comments must be submitted electronically on Docket No. USTR-2026-0331
3. The USTR will hold a public hearing on the proposed action on July 6, 2026, in the main hearing room of the U.S. International Trade Commission, 500 E Street S.W., Washington, DC 20436.