United States President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Friday (14) that retroactively reduces tariffs on beef, tomatoes, café e bananasamong other agricultural imports.
The setback concerns the reciprocal tariffs announced by the Republican in .
At the time, Brazil was reserved a minimum rate of 10%. Later, in July, Trump announced that he would apply a 40% surcharge on Brazilian products, totaling a tariff of 50%.
White House sources confirmed to CNN Brazil that to not the later one. I.e, .
Concern about prices in the USA
The measure comes after voters expressed frustration with the state of the economy in exit polls conducted earlier this month, voting for Democratic candidates in non-election year elections in several states.
Many of the goods that will no longer be subject to “reciprocal” tariffs have seen some of the biggest price increases since Trump took office, in part due to the tariffs he imposed and a lack of sufficient domestic supply.
For example, Brazil, faces .
Consumers paid almost according to data from the Consumer Price Index.
In the text, the US president writes that he made the decision “after considering the information and recommendations provided to me by authorities, the progress of negotiations with various trading partners, the current domestic demand for certain products and the current domestic production capacity for certain products”.
The decision was applied with retroactive effect from Thursday (13).
“To the extent that implementation of this order requires refunds of customs duties collected, refunds will be processed in accordance with applicable law and U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s standard procedures for such refunds,” Trump said.
In introducing Friday’s executive order, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said earlier this week that the measures targeted products “that we don’t grow here in the United States,” referring to coffee and bananas. (Although coffee is grown in some parts of the country, most of it is imported.)
Brazilian producers react to tariff reductions
The reduction in tariffs had repercussions on the Brazilian domestic market.
Eduardo Brandão, Executive Director of Abrafrutas (Brazilian Association of Fruit and Fruit Products Producers and Exporters), assessed that the scenario remains difficult for Brazilian producers, even after the American president’s retreat.
“Our situation remains complicated. The reciprocal tariff that was reduced could relieve us, but we still wouldn’t have an in-depth analysis. We still have to see which other countries were included”, explained Brandão in an interview with CNN Brazil.
The director estimates a 70% reduction in grape exports so far compared to the same period in the 2024 harvest.
Abiec (Brazilian Association of Meat Exporting Industries) celebrated the US decision regarding tariffs as a positive sign, but adopted a cautious tone when evaluating the effects of the measure.
In a statement, the entity stated that the reduction “returns predictability to the sector” and reinforces confidence in the technical dialogue between the two countries, but did not project an immediate impact on the volume exported.
““, stated Roberto Perosa, president of in an interview with CNN Arena.
The president of Cecafé, Márcio Ferreira, considered the tariff relief, highlighting that Brazil has two rates: the base, 10%, and the additional, 40%, linked to article 301. He also highlighted that it is necessary to understand the context of the measures signed by Trump.
“Cecafé is in contact with its American counterparts, at this moment, to carefully analyze the situation and get an idea of the real scenario that is presented,” said Ferreira.
Sources report that the decision had already been taken a few days ago, between the chancellor .
Published by João Nakamura, with information from Mariana Janjácomo and Thais Herédia
