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Trump Brazil tariff threat concerns US beef importers

  • Spanish Market: Agriculture
  • 11/07/25

US president Donald Trump's threat to apply a 50pc tariff on Brazilian imports was not welcomed by US beef importers, Brazilian beef exports association ABIEC's president Roberto Perosa said.

Perosa said while meeting with around 50 US companies that import beef from Brazil this week he discussed the possible economic effects from the threatened tariffs, which could raise prices that he said used to be beneficial for American consumers.

"It's a damaging decision with no technical basis in [the companies'] perspective," he said.

Brazil beef imports into the US in April were nearly five times higher than imports from a year earlier, but they dropped in May and June due to other US tariffs.

The US has been the second-largest buyer of Brazilian beef since 2022, with almost 230,000 metric tonnes (t) imported last year. The US accounted for 8pc of Brazil's beef exports in 2024, only behind China with 46pc, according to Netherlands-based investment bank Rabobank.

Brazil, the world's largest meat exporter, shipped a record 2.9mn t of beef in 2024, a 26pc increase from a year before, according to ABIEC.

Open gates

The World Organisation for Animal Heath (WOAH)'s May decision to declare Brazil free from the highly contagious foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) affecting livestock without vaccinations may allow access to new markets and boost exports, according to the government.

Brazil has opened its beef market to 19 countries so far, according to ministry of agriculture and cattle raising's trading and international affairs secretary Luis Rua. The last countries to open their markets to Brazilian beef were El Salvador and the Bahamas, according to the ministry.


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