Brazil will keep negotiating with the US regarding the 50pc tariffs on imports announced on Wednesday, but several exemptions in the tariffs represent "a better starting point" than before, Brazilian finance minister Fernando Haddad said.
US president Donald Trump signed on Wednesday an executive order to implement a 50pc tariff on Brazilian imports effective 6 August. But it grants exemptions to around 700 products, including crude, silicon metal, pig iron, civil aircraft parts and components, metallurgical grade aluminum, tin ore, wood pulp, orange pulp and juice, precious metals and fertilizers. The list of exemptions includes around 45pc of products exported by Brazil.
But the two countries are still "far from the finish line", Haddad told reporters on Thursday morning, adding that the executive order included some "injustices" that "need to be corrected". He also said that there were some "dramatic cases that need to be considered immediately", most likely meaning the lack of exemption on products such as coffee, beef and cocoa. Brazil is among the largest exporters of these products to the US.
Brazil exported around 8.1mn 60kg bags of coffee in 2024 — 34pc of the US' total coffee imports, according to Brazil's coffee exporters' council Cecafe. Brazil represents around 30pc of the US' coffee imports, while the US represents around 16pc of Brazil's exports of the grain.
Brazil also exports 13pc of its cocoa production to North America, according to investment bank Itau BBA. Additionally, Brazil exported around 138,700 metric tonnes of beef to the US in 2023, 6pc of all its beef exports, according to the Brazilian association of beef exporters Abiec.
Haddad said that Brazil's government will schedule a second meeting with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to discuss the tariffs, without providing more details. He also said that Brazil will appeal the decision on the "approppriate authorities both in the US and in international courts".
A US appeals court is holding a hearing on Thursday in a case that could throw out most tariffs Trump has imposed since taking office in January, although any ruling from that court will likely be appealed to the US Supreme Court.
Brazilian vice-president Geraldo Alckmin — who also acts as the trade and industry minister — said in a televised interview this morning that some of the tariffs are "unjustified" because the US has a trade surplus with Brazil, which was about $7.4bn in 2024. He also highlighted that Brazil and the US have more "convergences than differences", calling the tariffs a "lose-lose" situation.
"US consumers will pay more for coffee, fruit and beef," he said.
But he sees paths towards an amicable negotiation, especially with commerce secretary Howard Lutnick, and added that Brazil has plenty of options to direct some of its exports, mentioning China as a possible destination for beef, for example.
China is Brazil's largest importer of beef, receiving around 50pc of the South American product in 2023, according to Abiec.
Negotiation, not retaliation: CNI
Brazilian industry lobby group CNI called for Brazil to negotiate the tariffs rather than retaliate.
"There is no technical or economic justification for the tariff hike, but we believe now is not the time to retaliate," the group's president Ricardo Alban said. "We continue to defend negotiations as a way to convince the American government that this measure is a lose-lose situation for both countries."
Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has said before that the country would consider reciprocal tariffs "in accordance with its economic reciprocity law".
The US-Brazil commerce chamber Amcham conducted a survey of Brazilian companies, which found that 86pc of them believe that potential reciprocal action from Brazil would "worsen bilateral tensions and reduce space for negotiations".
