President Trump signed a memorandum on July 15, 2026, directing the U.S. Trade Representative to impose a 25% Section 301 tariff on all goods of Brazil, with exemptions for specific products. The memorandum was published in the Federal Register on July 20, 2026 (91 FR 45619), and the tariff takes effect July 22, 2026. This finalizes an action that had been proposed and pending since June, importers who have been tracking this as a “wait and see” item should treat it as settled.
How This Investigation Got Here
The underlying Section 301 investigation began July 15, 2025, at the President’s direction, and examined a distinct set of Brazilian practices: digital trade and electronic payment services, unfair and preferential tariffs, anti-corruption enforcement, intellectual property protection, ethanol market access, and illegal deforestation. On June 1, 2026, USTR determined that certain of these acts, policies, and practices are unreasonable or discriminatory and burden or restrict U.S. commerce, making them actionable under Section 301(b)(1).
USTR continued consulting with the Brazilian government after that determination but was unable to resolve U.S. concerns. USTR then proposed the 25% tariff and opened the matter to public comment, holding a hearing on July 6-7, 2026. According to the memorandum, USTR received more than 360 written comments and heard testimony from 77 witnesses before finalizing the action.
What’s Exempt
The memorandum directs USTR to exempt the products identified in its Annex from the 25% tariff. Rather than a simple product list, the exemption criteria fall into four categories:
- Raw materials that, if tariffed, could threaten the availability of domestic supply
- Products whose tariffing could cause economy-wide disruption
- Products that cannot be grown or produced in sufficient quantity or at reasonable prices domestically, or sourced elsewhere
- Articles for which tariffing would not meaningfully pressure Brazil to change the practices found actionable
Because the Annex applies these criteria on a tariff-line basis rather than describing itself in a single consolidated table, importers should confirm their specific HTS classifications against the published Annex directly rather than relying on summaries.
Don’t Confuse This With the Other Section 301 Tracks
This Brazil action is legally and procedurally separate from two other Section 301 proceedings currently in motion: the 60-economy forced-labor investigation (proposing 10%/12.5% duties) and the 16-economy structural excess-capacity investigation. Both of those remain pending as of this writing. The Brazil action is the only one of the three that has reached a final, published rate and effective date so far.
Action Items for Importers
- Confirm whether your Brazil-origin goods fall inside or outside the Annex exemption categories before the July 22 effective date.
- Remember this 25% duty stacks on top of any existing Section 232 steel, aluminum, or copper tariffs already assessed on Brazilian-origin goods.
- Review entry timing for shipments currently in transit. Duty rate is determined by date of entry, not date of departure.
- Update broker instructions and purchase order terms now if Brazil is a meaningful sourcing origin for your business.
ASK ALBA™: Not sure how the new Brazil tariff affects your import portfolio, or whether your products fall within the Annex exemptions? Contact our trade compliance team.
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