Trump Slaps 25% Tariff on Brazilian Goods Despite $14 Billion U.S. Trade Surplus

Q: Could new tariffs on Brazil soon stack up to a combined 37.5 percent?

Yes — potentially, but not yet. The 25 percent tariff announced on July 15 is a new Section 301 duty on thousands of Brazilian products, taking effect July 22. Separately, the administration is preparing another Section 301 tariff tied to a broader forced-labor investigation covering about 60 economies, including Brazil, with a proposed rate of up to 12.5 percent. If that second tariff is finalized for Brazil and applied on top of the new 25 percent duty, some Brazilian goods could face a combined 37.5 percent tariff. That is the arithmetic behind the figure. The key uncertainty is whether the two Section 301 tariffs would actually stack on the same products. The available information indicates that this is possible, and trade specialists have treated it as a real near-term risk, but the administration has not yet definitively said how the overlap would be administered product by product. This is separate from the temporary 10 percent Section 122 surcharge now in place on almost all imports, which is due to expire on July 24. The new 25 percent Brazil tariff is widely seen as replacing that stopgap measure rather than simply adding to it over the long term. So the short answer is that 37.5 percent is plausible soon for some Brazilian goods, but only if the additional forced-labor Section 301 tariff is imposed on Brazil and allowed to stack with the new 25 percent tariff.

3 articles · Updated · The Washington Post · Jul 17

$14 billion in U.S. trade surplus with Brazil last year did not stop Trump from ordering a new 25% tariff on Brazilian goods, with the levies due to start July 22.
A yearlong Section 301 investigation led trade chief Jamieson Greer to recommend the move, citing Brazilian practices in digital trade, electronic payments, ethanol, intellectual property and deforestation that allegedly hurt U.S. companies.
The tariff marks Trump's latest effort to rebuild trade barriers after the Supreme Court in February struck down his earlier tariffs imposed under a 1977 emergency-powers law.
Several products are exempt, including civil aircraft, beef, yellowfin tuna, pharmaceuticals, coffee, fruit and nuts, and more country-specific tariffs are expected later this month.