credit, Reuters
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- author, mariana schreiber
- roll, From BBC News Brazil in Brasilia
However, this decision only partially benefits Brazil, as it has maintained the 40% additional tariffs, so-called “tariffs” that have been applied to most of Brazil’s exports since August.
The only thing removed was the 10% tax rate announced in April for several countries, including Brazil.
This overall reduction affected some products. Among these are coffee, various cuts of beef, acai, Brazil nuts, tapioca, cassava, and fruits such as bananas, oranges, and coconuts.
The move increases the percentage of Brazilian exports exempt from additional tariffs adopted under the Trump administration from 23% to 26%, representing a total of about $10 billion in sales to the United States, Alcumin said.
The main product that benefited was orange juice, with annual exports to Americans totaling about $1.2 billion. Approximately 40% of Brazilian juice sent abroad goes to the United States, with production concentrated in the state of São Paulo. The product, along with oil and aircraft, was already exempt from Brazil’s 40% tariff. Now, juices are also 10% tax exempt.
For example, coffee will still be taxed at 40%.
“We will continue to strive for further reductions. In fact, in the case of coffee it makes no sense. Tariffs are still high and Brazil is the largest supplier of coffee to the United States,” Alcumin told reporters at a news conference in the Palacio do Planalto.
The vice president, who is also Minister of Development, Industry, Commerce and Services, is one of the leaders, along with Finance Minister Fernando Addad and Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira, in negotiations with the United States to reduce tariffs on Brazil by 40%.
The three are expected to visit the United States after the Climate Change Summit (COP30) to be held in Belem this month. However, Alkmin said this Sunday that nothing has been scheduled yet.
“We will now wait for the next steps. However, we are optimistic that we will make further progress.”
Friday’s announcement is not a direct part of ongoing negotiations between Brazil and the United States regarding tariffs announced in July that apply specifically to Brazilian products.
These were adopted in response to a decision by Trump’s ideological ally, former President Jair Bolsonaro, and include an additional 40% tariff on most Brazilian products exported to the United States, on top of the 10% reciprocal tariff announced in April, thus increasing the tax rate on some Brazilian products to 50%.
Lula has so far not commented publicly on the U.S. government’s decision to remove 10% tariffs on some agricultural products.
Since Lula and Trump briefly met at the United Nations General Assembly in September, the two countries have grown closer and resumed talks on tariffs.
The two presidents met face-to-face in Malaysia at the end of October to discuss the issue.
This week, Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio met twice to discuss the issue, first in Canada and then in Washington.
“(The agreement) establishes a roadmap for negotiations that could last two to three months, after which all issues between the two countries will be finally resolved,” Vieira said.
The minister said that during a virtual meeting on November 4, a proposal was presented to the American side that was “a response to the initial proposal presented by the American side on October 16.”
It was a reference to an initial meeting with Mr. Rubio at the White House to begin the negotiation process.
Vieira stressed that a U.S. response could emerge within days.
Impact on Americans’ pocketbooks explains President Trump’s withdrawal
credit, Getty Images
The decision to suspend some of the 10% tariffs announced in April was announced Friday in an executive order signed by President Trump.
In the executive order, President Trump states that he has decided to change the scope of products subject to these fees based on the progress of negotiations with other countries, domestic demand for specific products, and U.S. production capacity for these items, as well as information and recommendations from authorities overseeing the application of these measures.
The document states that the changes will apply to a range of products listed in the Schedule and will come into effect “from 00:01 local time on November 13, 2025, with respect to goods entering for consumption or being removed from warehouses for consumption.”
On Tuesday (11/11), President Trump mentioned the possibility of cutting coffee tariffs in an interview with Fox News, but did not say which countries would benefit.
The country’s government is facing increasing pressure due to rising inflation in the country.
Coffee prices have inflated significantly in the United States this year, and tariffs on Brazilian products have exacerbated this scenario, raising concerns that Mr. Trump will come under pressure on the economy, an important area for voters.
According to calculations by BBC News Brazil based on official MDIC data, the volume of Brazilian coffee sent to the US in September fell by almost half (-47%) compared to the same month in 2024.
According to BBC News Brazil at the time, in his first meeting with President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (PT) to discuss the tariffs in early October, the US president acknowledged that the US was “overlooking” some Brazilian products that would be affected by the tariffs, and specifically mentioned coffee.
Brazil is also the fourth largest supplier of mangoes and guavas (together in the nomenclature of the products used in foreign trade) to Americans, with approximately US$56 million of these products shipped to Brazil in 2024.
According to the Economic Complexity Observatory, Mexico was the leading supplier with US$550 million, followed by Peru (US$96.9 million) and Ecuador (US$56 million).
In the United States, mangoes are grown in states such as Florida, California, and Hawaii, but much of domestic consumption is met by imports. So is guava, which is grown sparingly in Florida, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico.
As BBC News Brazil reported, Brazilian mango producers have been hit hard by US tariffs, with production slowed by canceled orders.
Brazil remains the world’s largest beef exporter, accounting for 23% of U.S. beef imports, according to calculations by Genial Investimentos.
The United States is the second largest market for Brazilian products after China.
But unlike fruits such as coffee and mangoes, the United States is also a major producer of meat.
However, the country is facing a historic decline in beef supplies.
The U.S. currently has the lowest cattle numbers in 74 years as ranchers cut production after years of drought and low prices.
At the same time, consumer demand remained strong and supermarket prices rose.
Suspending meat tariffs should also benefit Argentina, which accounts for 2.1% of U.S. imports and is ruled by Trump ally Javier Milley.
In early November, President Trump said he would buy more Argentine meat to make it cheaper in the U.S. market, infuriating domestic producers.
President Trump has always maintained that his tariffs do not result in higher prices for American consumers, but the recent waivers signal a change in position.
Economists had already warned that companies would pass on the cost of import duties, resulting in higher prices for consumers.
Although inflation remains more subdued than many analysts expected in September, most items tracked in the Labor Department’s inflation report showed gains, with food up 2.7% from a year earlier.
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