Overview
- Brazil aims to head off potential new U.S. tariffs by engaging on critical minerals and organized crime, with officials saying the visit could lower trade tensions even without a formal deal.
- The remaining 10% U.S. tariff on Brazilian goods is set to lapse in July, yet a separate Section 301 probe into alleged unfair practices keeps the risk of new levies alive, according to Brazilian officials.
- Talks on rare earths and other key minerals remain difficult because Brazil insists on local processing while the U.S. wants a price floor to blunt China’s market power, and people close to Lula do not expect a full minerals pact now.
- Brazil plans to expand cooperation against drug, gun and money-laundering networks after an April data-sharing pact, while resisting any U.S. move to label gangs like PCC and Comando Vermelho as terrorist groups due to legal and economic fallout.
- Other friction points include a U.S. inquiry into Brazil’s PIX instant-pay system, Brazil’s block on a WTO e-commerce tariff moratorium, and a USTR claim that a large share of timber exports is illegal, which Brazil disputes as it touts lower deforestation.