Businesspeople are expecting a possible announcement by the United States government of new tariffs against Brazil at the beginning of this week. If confirmed, the measure will come in the wake of the North American government’s classification of the First Capital Command (PCC) and the Red Command (CV) as terrorist groups.
In the report, a source from the business sector stated, on condition of anonymity, that the products that will receive this new tariff, within section 301, would be defined this weekend.
The definition, according to him, will be political and not economic, given that the United States continues to have a surplus in the trade balance with Brazil.
Another source with influence on the Brazil-United States relationship heard by the report stated that he was expecting commercial tariffs this Monday.
He expects the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) to impose “high tariffs, triggering a 30-day public comment period.
If confirmed, the decision contradicts the agreement between the Brazilian president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and the North American president, Donald Trump, which established a 30-day deadline for the two countries to reach terms favorable to both countries and, therefore, without a North American tariff. This deadline ends next weekend.
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On May 7, Lula and Trump agreed on a kind of “extension” in the negotiations, after a technical visit by Brazilian diplomatic authorities to Washington, in order to make the country’s last defense in the Section 301 investigation, opened last year.
Brazilian government sources said they had not been officially informed of any change in tariffs or regarding Section 301 investigations.
The Executive states, behind the scenes, that it monitors the situation, but that the decision is 100% Washington’s.
The government’s assessment is that it would be time to take stock of the section 301 investigations. The Brazilian foreign policy team also assesses that it did its job well, providing all the clarifications throughout the investigation so far.
The team also says that the moment calls for caution, without speculating about possible US decisions before they are made official, such as new tariffs, deadlines and even whether new charges will be announced.
