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Washington, United States: The United States has announced a new 25 percent tariff on various imports from Brazil, accusing the Latin American giant of unfair trade practices and policies.
The levy is set to come into effect on July 22 and is shaping up as a major campaign flashpoint three months before Brazil holds a presidential election.
Washington imposed the tariff after a year-long investigation into Brazilian policies it argues harm US commerce -- an accusation Brasilia has fiercely denied.
A range of products including beef, coffee and certain aircraft parts will be exempted, a senior US official told reporters late Wednesday as the tariff was announced.
The exclusions also cover certain goods that the United States does not produce.
Brazil condemned the tariffs on Thursday, promising that "reciprocal" measures would be taken.
"There is no justification for unilateral measures against our country," President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's office said in a statement on X.
Deploring the "lamentable outcome", he highlighted that in 2025, 76 percent of imports originating from the United States entered his country without paying import duties.
US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said Brazil's "unreasonable" policies have hurt US commerce by unfairly benefiting Brazilian producers and "restricting access to one of the world's top export markets."
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the Brazilian government had "not negotiated with the US in good faith."
"Lula has put his own ego ahead of making a deal for the welfare of the Brazilian people, and these tariffs are the price for that," he said in a post on X.
