RIO DE JANEIRO — The Brazilian government has criticized the latest US tariff on certain Brazilian imports and has threatened to impose reciprocal tariffs against US products.

The United States said Wednesday it would impose a new 25% tariff on certain imports from Brazil, citing unfair trade practices by the world’s 10th largest economy.

The tariffs, first proposed last month, will take effect on July 22. The order exempts some goods that are not produced in the United States or that officials are concerned will disrupt supply chains, including coffee, beef, oranges and orange juice, and aircraft components.

In a statement late Wednesday, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s office refuted U.S. accusations of unfair trade practices. He said 76% of imports from the United States entered Brazil duty-free in 2025, and said the average tariff actually applied to American products was only 3.1%.

It said it has taken steps to impose reciprocal tariffs, along with other trade-related countermeasures.

“Brazil will immediately initiate the necessary procedures to invoke the mechanisms provided for in the reciprocity law… and will also pursue the matter through the dispute resolution mechanism of the World Trade Organization,” he said, referring to a mechanism that allows it to respond with countermeasures.

The United States has run a huge trade deficit with the rest of the world for years, and Trump has cited lopsided trade numbers to justify his aggressive use of tariffs.

But Brazilian imports are an unusual target: the United States has persistently accumulated trade surpluses with Brazil. In fact, last year U.S. exports to Brazil exceeded imports by nearly $42 billion; only the United States’ trade surpluses with the Netherlands and the United Kingdom were larger.

The new tariff puts pressure on national exports and increases insecurity for companies in both countries, Brazil’s National Confederation of Industry said in a statement on Thursday.

The Trump administration first imposed a 50% tariff on Brazilian imports last July. He cited what he called a “witch hunt” against former President Jair Bolsonaro. The Trump ally was on trial at the time for attempting a coup despite his 2022 election loss to Lula and was later convicted. Some of those tariffs were later rescinded.

Then-US President Donald Trump also accused Brazil of unfair trade practices and said he had ordered US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer to launch an investigation under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974.

That led the office to accuse Brazil of lax anti-corruption enforcement and unfair tariffs, among other things, in June.

Lula pointedly referenced that story Wednesday night, blaming the latest round of tariffs on the Bolsonaro family.

Lula’s office also said: “Brazil does not recognize the legitimacy of investigations that are not based on multilateral rules governing international trade.”

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a post on

Brazil’s government rejected that claim, saying it had “never left the negotiating table.”

The tariff is likely to increase tensions between the two countries ahead of Brazil’s presidential election in October, when President Lula is expected to face Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, son of former President Jair Bolsonaro.

Flávio Bolsonaro reposted Rubio’s statement, along with the comment: “Lula is no longer fit to be president of Brazil. We are on a plane without a pilot.” He called Lula “the Brazilian Biden” and said “he is grumpy, reckless and has become a danger to our nation.”

The two leading candidates in October’s presidential election have traded barbs over their responses to the deeply unpopular US tariffs, suggesting they believe how they are perceived to be handling them will be a key factor in the vote.

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Paul Wiseman contributed to this report from Washington DC

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