The White House already slashed tariffs on other global food imports last week as it works to lower grocery prices.
President Donald Trump on Thursday eliminated tariffs on a large swath of Brazilian agricultural goods, including beef and coffee, dropping steep tariffs he imposed this summer as he feuded with Brazil’s government and President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
In an executive order released by the White House authorizing the tariff cuts, the president cited ongoing negotiations with Brazil, including an Oct. 6 call with Lula, as well as recommendations from administration officials.
“After considering the information and recommendations these officials have provided to me and the status of negotiations with the Government of Brazil, among other things, I have determined that it is necessary and appropriate to modify the scope of products subject to the additional ad valorem rate of duty,” the order said.
Brazil is a major exporter of foods to the U.S. like fruit juices and sugar, in addition to beef and coffee. The order effectively removes the 40 percent duty that was still on those goods, after Trump dropped Brazil’s 10 percent “reciprocal” duty on a long list of food products as part of a separate action last week. It’s the latest in a series of efforts by the Trump administration to address American cost of living and affordability concerns, after voters punished Republicans in off-year elections in early November.
The list of food imports from Brazil that will no longer face tariffs matches the list in the Nov. 14 order, which struck down “reciprocal tariffs” on more than 200 goods worldwide, including products used in fertilizer, tropical fruits like bananas and pineapples, coffee and several spices like cocoa, cinnamon and coriander.
The new order on Brazil is backdated to Nov. 13, and the president said in the text that the administration will issue refunds for tariffs collected on imports of Brazilian agricultural products since that time.
The White House in July issued an executive order imposing a 40 percent tariff on Brazilian goods, citing the trial of former President Jair Bolsonaro, a Trump ally, on allegations he sought to overturn the country’s 2022 election. The higher tariffs were stacked on top of existing 10 percent duties from Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs that were imposed in April to total 50 percent duties.
The U.S. imported $42.3 billion worth of goods from Brazil in 2024, including about $8 billion worth of food products from the agricultural powerhouse. The latter includes more than $2 billion worth of coffee, several billion dollars more of meat, orange juice and sugar and smaller amounts of fruit, spices, vegetables, dairy and other agricultural products.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, in an interview Thursday on Fox Business Network’s Kudlow, said Trump was rolling back food tariffs to make a fresh start after broadly threatening countries with tariffs earlier in the year.
“What happened is the president said, ‘Look, it’s been six months. It’s time. Let’s just wipe the slate clean. If people haven’t made deals with these smaller countries, it’s OK. Let’s cut the price on all these unavailable natural resources, and let’s focus on affordability,’ Lutnick said.
“So what you’re going to watch is the president’s going to focus on the small things that touch the Americans’ pocketbook, and he’s going to bring them all down,” Lutnick continued. “He’s going to use the power of what he has created to bring these prices down, so that by Christmas, the prices in America are lower and lower.”
Doug Palmer and Ari Hawkins contributed to this report.