Negotiations among representatives of the Brazilian ministry of development, industry and foreign trade (MDIC), and of the US Trade Representative (USTR), are set to start this week, to discuss, among other topics, the exclusion of the Brazilian pig iron from the list of exceptions from the 25 percent import tariff in the US, announced by the US trade representative earlier this week.
According to the Brazilian press, negotiations are set to start with on-line conversations between the Brazilian minister Márcio Elias Rosa and the USTR Jamieson Greer.
Brazil is expected to emphasize how important its pig iron is to the US foundry industry, which imported 3.365 million mt in 2025, or 83 percent of Brazil’s total exports of the product.
During the January-May period of 2026, such volume has already reached 1.209 million mt.
Brazilian President Luis Inácio Lula da Silva and US President Donald Trump may also meet next week in France during the G7 summit in Évian-les-Bains, which could lead to talks on the issue.
A source linked to the union of the pig iron producers in the state of Minas Gerais, Sindifer, told SteelOrbis that such negotiations are extremely important, adding that that the main factor that could pave the way for the return the Brazilian pig iron to the list of the exceptions, is the interest of the industry in the US, not only due to its competitive price, but also due to the fact that the independent pig iron producers use charcoal as reductant element in its blast furnaces, resulting in a “close to zero” net CO2 emissions.
When charcoal comes from planted forests, the CO2 emissions generated in blast furnaces are offset by the CO2 absorbed by the next generation of trees.
