US President Donald Trump has notified Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, starting August 1, all imports from Brazil will face an additional 50 percent tariff at US customs.
The letter announcing this measure contains inconsistencies, such as claiming that new tariff is justified by US commercial deficit with Brazil, though Brazil has had a consistent trade deficit with the US since 2009.
The letter also referenced alleged unfair treatment of former president Jair Bolsonaro by Brazil's supreme court, considered as an intromission with the domestic juridical process.
In 2024, Brazil exported 4.29 million mt of slabs to the US, worth $2.77 billion.
If the tariffs are effectively implemented, the plants of ArcelorMittal in Brazil, Tubarão, and Pecem, and the Ternium slab producer in Rio de Janeiro will be the most strongly affected by the new tariff.
Before the implementation of similar tariff by the US earlier this year, the FOB export price of the Brazilian slabs had hovered between $530/mt and $540/mt, between August 5, 2024 and March 1, 2025.
Today it stands at $475/mt under the same conditions.