On November 20, the White House announced a decree removing to zero the 40% customs duties applied to some Brazilian products exported to the United States. However, the effect of the measure was practically zero for the Federal District: among the 79 items manufactured in the capital and sent to the North American market, only one was exempt.
Coming from DF, the only product excluded from Donald Trump’s customs tariff was green tea. The information comes from the Federation of Industries of the Federal District (Fibra).
This item, however, corresponds to a very small percentage of goods exported to the North American country and represents 9,750 US dollars.
The U.S. tariff reduction only applies to a select group of Brazilian agricultural products. In the case of exports from the Federal District, most of the goods come from the industrial sector, such as fats, oils, bread dough, biscuits and clothing, which are not included in the measure.
At Metropolises, Fibra President Jamal Jorge Bittar believed that the Brazilian government had negotiated the tariff program against Brazilian products quite effectively. This scenario is expected to reverse in the short term.
“The DF industry continues to be affected, but as we have a wide diversity of product destinations, the burden of tariffs is concentrated in sectors. We will continue our work alongside the National Confederation of Industry and the federal government to seek to reverse this scenario,” said the Fibra president.
According to Jamal, Fibra has helped companies seek new markets for their products exported to the United States, “as a way to escape the insecurity that this moment brings.”
Most exported products
Oils and fats are the most exported products to the United States. Last year, the category generated US$2,979,089 in transactions. Then, companies that export mixes and doughs for bakery products collected US$1,613,933.
The cookie industry ranked third with US$909,749 collected in 2024.
See the list of products:
Price
- Donald Trump signed the executive order that formalized the 50% customs duties on products exported from Brazil to the United States, in July of this year.
- In practice, the 50% is the sum of a 10% rate announced in April and an additional 40% announced at the beginning of this month.
- Despite this, the North American leader excluded nearly 700 products from the list of items affected by additional customs duties of 40%. Among them are: orange juice, airplanes, nuts, oil and iron ores. Exempt products will only be affected by the 10% rate.
- According to the DF, only one product was excluded from Donald Trump’s pricing: aviation fuel. This item corresponds to 9.4% of goods exported to the North American country, which represents 739,273 US dollars.
Tariffs against Brazil
In July of this year, Donald Trump signed the executive order that formalized the 50% customs duties on products imported from Brazil.
The move was justified as a response to actions by the Brazilian government that the White House says pose an “unusual and extraordinary” threat to national security, foreign policy and the North American economy.
The decree was based on the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (Ieepa) of 1977, which declared the establishment of a new national emergency in the United States in relation to Brazil.
On November 14, the President of the United States abandoned his tariff war and signed an executive order reducing the tariffs he imposed on agricultural products.
The decision directly affected products exported by Brazil, such as coffee, beef and fruits, such as açaí, which were still taxed at 50% by the United States.
The reduction, in this case, was only for the 10% reciprocal tariff, implemented by Trump on April 2 of this year. The additional rate of 40% against Brazil, made official by the Republican at the end of July, remained in force until then.
About a week later, Trump signed a new executive order to eliminate the 40% tariffs imposed by the United States on certain Brazilian agricultural products. With this decision, customs duties on fresh, chilled or frozen beef, cocoa and coffee products, certain fruits, vegetables and nuts, as well as fertilizers were reduced to zero.
According to the text, the White House believes that there has been “first progress” in the negotiations carried out after a telephone conversation between Trump and President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on October 6. The dialogue paved the way for a review of the punitive measure.
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