US announces reciprocal tariff exemption for agricultural products such as meat and coffee | World

revealed that they have been in a long-term relationship white house products like beef, orange juice and coffeeimportant items Brazil’s export challenges The United States has been severely affected by the tariffs imposed on the country by President Trump.

The exemption reduces trade duties on these. agricultural products The White House says the United States cannot produce enough to meet domestic demand.

Hundreds of food products, including coffee, oranges and beef, as well as bananas, avocados and pineapples, are listed by the government as beneficiaries of the measure, which came into effect at 2:01 a.m. (Brasilia time) yesterday.

“After considering information and recommendations, the status of negotiations with various trading partners, current domestic demand for certain products, and current domestic production capacity for certain products, we have determined that further changes to the range of products subject to reciprocal tariffs are necessary and appropriate,” Trump said in an executive order released by the White House.

It is not yet clear how this exemption will affect Brazilian products. On April 2, the so-called “Liberation Day,” President Trump announced a 10% tax on exports from Brazil to the United States, in addition to specific tax rates for several other countries.

However, the US president has since applied a 40% “punitive tariff” on Brazilian products, linking this additional tax to the trial of former President Jair Bolsonaro, who was convicted by the Federal Supreme Court (STF) of orchestrating a coup d’état after the 2022 presidential election.

As a result, the tariff applicable to Brazil increased to 50%. However, the White House quickly backtracked and announced an extensive list of exceptions that exempted about 700 products exported to the United States. Still, important trade items between the two countries remain subject to high tax rates.

The decree does not specify whether Brazilian products will also be exempted from the 40% “punitive tariff” or whether they will only benefit from a 10% reduction in the “reciprocal tariff” applicable to the country.

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer previewed plans to exempt agricultural products from reciprocal tariffs in an interview Friday, saying the measure fits within the White House’s broader trade strategy. President Trump and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent have already hinted in recent days about possible tax cuts on products like coffee.

“Now is the time to release some of these items that the president said he would release,” Greer said. “This is just the natural result of what the president has shown, and that’s what he’s doing today.”

The two countries have grown closer since the imposition of “punitive tariffs” on Brazil and the US president’s various criticisms of the Bolsonaro trial. President Trump spoke briefly with President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva backstage at the United Nations General Assembly, and in his speech announced that they would meet to discuss trade relations.

The talks were held in Malaysia at the end of October and paved the way for negotiations led by Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Yesterday, the two met on the sidelines of the G7 meeting in Canada to discuss lowering U.S. tariffs on Brazil.

After the meeting, Vieira said Rubio hinted at the possibility of an interim agreement between the two countries, saying an agreement could be reached by the end of November or early December. However, Brazil’s prime minister did not provide details on what measures would be included in the interim agreement.

The agricultural exemptions were announced after the U.S. government signed trade agreements with Argentina, Ecuador, El Salvador, and Guatemala, reducing tariffs on certain products from those countries.