Crack down on Brazil while relaxing agricultural machinery imports: US tariff policy "playing taps in one place," steel and aluminum hurdles lowered to 10%

The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) plans to invoke Article 301 and impose a 25% tariff on Brazilian goods imported into the United States; the US side believes that Brazil's multiple economic and trade measures "lack reasonableness and constitute a burden and restriction on US trade activities". According to an announcement by the USTR, the US allegations cover various areas including the implementation of anti-corruption enforcement in Brazil, protection of intellectual property rights, control of market access for ethanol, and illegal deforestation in the country. US Trade Representative James Greer revealed that this 301 investigation was initiated following an instruction from US President Trump. Greer stated that despite multiple constructive meetings between Trump and Brazilian President Lula, there are still significant differences between the two countries on the contentious issues listed in this investigation. The USTR is scheduled to hold a public hearing on July 6 to discuss the proposed tariff increase. The purpose of the 301 legislation is to address unfair business practices that harm US trade interests. If the investigation determines that the economic measures taken by foreign countries are unreasonable or discriminatory, the US President has the authority to impose tariffs under this provision. In July 2025, the Trump administration had imposed a 50% tariff on Brazilian products, partly in retaliation for Brazil's continued prosecution of former President Bolsonaro. However, these tariffs were overturned in February of the same year by the US Supreme Court, and since then the US has only been able to impose a unified 10% global tariff on Brazilian goods imported into the country. In addition, the White House announced adjustments to some import tariffs on steel, aluminum, and copper: the import tariffs on agricultural machinery such as combines have been reduced from 25% to 15%, while the range of agricultural machinery categories eligible for the 15% preferential tariff rate has been expanded. For complete sets of heavy equipment where US-produced steel and aluminum materials account for at least 85% of the weight, the import tariff on such capital goods will be significantly reduced from the current 95% to 10%.