Brazil pushes back against U.S. probe on its trade practices
In a 91-page response to what is known as the Section 301 probe, Brazil said its digital, intellectual property, ethanol and environmental policies are consistent with international trade rules. Brazil's comments were submitted to the USTR earlier on Monday and published on its website a few hours later.
Launched in July, the investigation is seen as an attempt to justify the 50% tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump on all Brazilian exports to the U.S., excluding some 700 items ranging from aviation parts to select agricultural exports.
Trump has linked the penalties to Brazil's prosecution of former President Jair Bolsonaro, portraying the case as a U.S. national security concern. Brazil countered that the tariffs are political in nature and not grounded in economic harm to American firms.
In its filing, the government stressed the U.S. has consistently run a trade surplus with Brazil — $29.3 billion in 2024 — and that American firms already enjoy broad access to the Brazilian market. More than 70% of U.S. exports enter duty-free, while Brazil's fast-growing electronic payments system, Pix, is open to global platforms such as Google Pay and WhatsApp. Officials also pointed to joint enforcement efforts on corruption and intellectual property, citing U.S. recognition of Brazil's progress in reducing patent backlogs and cracking down on piracy.
The submission also devotes significant attention to environmental concerns, asserting that deforestation has dropped by nearly 50% since 2023 thanks to the stricter enforcement of the Forest Code and satellite monitoring systems. It argued that Brazil's major U.S.-bound farm exports — coffee, orange juice, sugar and tobacco — are not related to Amazon clearing.
On ethanol, Brazil contrasted its own 18% tariff with Washington's 52.5% levy on Brazilian shipments, accusing the U.S. of protecting subsidized corn-based ethanol while blocking sugarcane-based fuel that meets California's low-carbon standards.
"Unilateral measures under Section 301 risk undermining the multilateral trading system and could have adverse consequences for bilateral relations,' the filing said.
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has promised to keep channels of dialogue open while taking the dispute to the World Trade Organization. He has also rolled out domestic credit lines to cushion exporters from the sudden tariff shock.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Japan Today
25 minutes ago
- Japan Today
Trump says no ground troops, but maybe air support, to back Ukraine peace deal
FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy walk during a meeting, amid negotiations to end the Russian war in Ukraine, at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., August 18, 2025. REUTERS/Al Drago/File Photo By Andrea Shalal, Tom Balmforth and Anastasiia Malenko U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday the United States would not put troops on the ground in Ukraine but might provide air support as part of a deal to end Russia's war in the country. A day after Trump pledged security guarantees to help end the war at an extraordinary White House summit, the path to peace remained uncertain as the U.S. and allies prepared to work out what military support for Ukraine might include. "When it comes to security, Europeans are willing to put people on the ground. We're willing to help them with things, especially, probably, ... by air," Trump said in an interview with the Fox News "Fox & Friends" program. He did not elaborate. Following Monday's meeting, Russia launched its biggest air assault in more than a month on Ukraine, and Trump conceded that Russian President Vladimir Putin might not want to make a deal after all. "We're going to find out about President Putin in the next couple of weeks," he said. The nature of U.S. military aid for Ukraine under a peace deal was unclear. Air support could take many forms such as missile defense systems or fighter jets enforcing a no-fly zone. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed U.S. air support was "an option and a possibility," but like Trump did not provide any details. "The President has definitively stated U.S. boots will not be on the ground in Ukraine, but we can certainly help in the coordination and perhaps provide other means of security guarantees to our European allies," she said at a news briefing. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy hailed the White House talks as a "major step forward" towards ending Europe's deadliest conflict in 80 years and setting up a trilateral meeting with Putin and Trump in the coming weeks. Zelenskiy's warm rapport with Trump contrasted sharply with their disastrous Oval Office meeting in February. Analysts say more than 1 million people have been killed or wounded in the conflict, which began with Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022. RUSSIAN ATTACKS Russia launched 270 drones and 10 missiles in an overnight attack on Ukraine, the Ukrainian air force said. The energy ministry said the strikes caused big fires at energy facilities in the central Poltava region, home to Ukraine's only oil refinery. However, Russia also returned the bodies of 1,000 dead Ukrainian soldiers on Tuesday, Ukrainian officials said. Moscow received 19 bodies of its own soldiers in return, according to the state-run TASS news agency. Ukraine's allies held talks in the so-called Coalition of the Willing format on Tuesday, discussing additional sanctions to crank up the pressure on Russia. The grouping has also agreed that planning teams will meet U.S. counterparts in the coming days to develop security guarantees for Ukraine. NATO military leaders were expected to meet on Wednesday to discuss Ukraine, with U.S. General Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, expected to attend virtually, officials told Reuters. "We are now actively working at all levels on the specifics, on what the architecture of the guarantees will look like, with all members of the Coalition of the Willing, and very concretely with the United States," Zelenskyy said on social media 'TIPTOEING AROUND TRUMP' Although Trump said on Monday Putin asked for a bilateral meeting with Zelenskyy, the Kremlin has made no explicit commitment. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday that Moscow did not reject any format for Ukraine peace talks but any meeting of national leaders "must be prepared with utmost thoroughness". Putin has said Russia will not tolerate troops from the NATO alliance in Ukraine. He has also shown no sign of backing down from demands for territory, including land not under Russia's military control, following his summit with Trump on Friday in Alaska. Neil Melvin, a director at the International Security at the Royal United Services Institute think-tank, said Russia could drag out the war while trying to deflect U.S. pressure with a protracted peace negotiation. Melvin said both Ukraine and its European allies on one side and Russia on another were striving "not to present themselves to Trump as the obstacle to his peace process," Melvin said. "They're all tiptoeing around Trump" to avoid any blame, he said, adding that Trump's statements on security guarantees were "so vague it's very hard to take it seriously". © Thomson Reuters 2025.
NHK
2 hours ago
- NHK
Japanese PM Ishiba calls for ceasefire and just peace for Ukraine
Japanese Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru has stressed the importance of realizing a ceasefire and a just and lasting peace for Ukraine at an online meeting with European leaders and others. Ishiba took part in the meeting on Tuesday night Japan time. The Japanese prime minister told other leaders that he welcomes the meeting between US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Washington. He added that the meeting helped build a common understanding about the direction of future negotiations, which will be led by the United States and involve Ukraine. Ishiba also argued it would be important to firmly maintain territorial integrity and that attempts to unilaterally change the status quo by force should never be allowed. The leaders acknowledged that they will continue to work closely toward realizing a just and lasting peace for Ukraine.
Japan Times
6 hours ago
- Japan Times
Battle-tested cop is Mexico's hope to tame cartels and placate Trump
His heart pounding, Omar Garcia Harfuch crouched inside an armored SUV as hooded cartel assassins opened fire in one of Mexico City's wealthiest neighborhoods just as dawn broke one morning in 2020. Bullets tore through his collarbone, arm and knee. Two bodyguards were bloodied and would soon die. Garcia Harfuch grabbed one of their rifles and began shooting back, trying to fend off attackers until reinforcements arrived. Then Mexico City's police chief, Garcia Harfuch didn't just survive the assassination attempt. His resolve stiffened, and his career took off. Now, as President Claudia Sheinbaum's security minister, he's Mexico's top cop. It's a big job, more so now that Donald Trump has placed relentless pressure on Sheinbaum to vanquish drug cartels and end fentanyl trafficking — or face punishing tariffs on Mexican goods. Trump is even signaling potential military force to strike drug lords himself. That has thrust Garcia Harfuch into the spotlight as Sheinbaum works to satisfy Trump's demands, putting him at the center of both talks over a new U.S. security agreement that would bolster the fight against cartels and Mexico's push to cinch a trade pact its export-driven economy desperately needs. Garcia Harfuch has earned praise for helping deliver on Sheinbaum's vision of increased cooperation with the U.S. On the issue of security, he's "probably the best interlocutor on the Mexican side that I've seen in my experience, and I think the results are evident,' said Mauricio Claver-Carone, who served as Trump's Latin America envoy until late May and played a key role in the administration's security and migration work with Mexico. Forensic markers tag some of hundreds of cartridges scattered on Paseo de la Reforma at the scene where Garcia Harfuch was attacked by gunmen in Mexico City, in 2020. | GETTY IMAGES / VIA BLOOMBERG The attack sheds light on how aggressively he approaches the challenge. Hours after the shooting stopped, he defiantly promised to go on the offensive against the gangs that make up a vast criminal underworld responsible for hundreds of thousands of deaths and countless missing persons. As he recovered in the hospital, he even posed for a photo with both legs and one arm in casts, and a short-barreled assault rifle nearby. He's since won credit for helping Sheinbaum, then Mexico City's mayor, curb violence in the capital, and for following through on pledges to dismantle operations of some leaders of the cartel he said was behind the ambush. The exploits have made him popular enough to fuel speculation that Garcia Harfuch may succeed Sheinbaum as president. They have also turned him even more private as he tries to protect loved ones from a battle those close to him say has become an obsession. The combination has earned the enigmatic minister a fitting nickname: many Mexicans call him Batman. 'This job is his life' Each weekday morning, Garcia Harfuch joins his boss and other Cabinet officials for 6 a.m. security meetings. But it's appearances at Sheinbaum's daily press conferences — mostly during twice-monthly crime briefings — that have put him front-and-center in Mexican homes. Known for his chiseled good looks, Garcia Harfuch talks like a cop trained to follow orders. His answers are short. He shares only what's necessary. He's polite but authoritative, and rarely smiles. Mexican Secretary of Security and Citizen Protection Omar Garcia Harfuch | REUTERS It's nearly impossible to approach him at events. A security detail of tall, muscular body guards keeps everyone at a distance, their eyes darting constantly. It's even harder to spot him in public. "Omar doesn't go to restaurants, I've never seen him anywhere that isn't strictly related to his duties,' said Ilan Katz, a lawyer who has known him for years. "For Omar, this job is his life.' Garcia Harfuch studied law and public administration before joining Mexico's federal police, which has since been disbanded. Prior to leading the sprawling Mexican capital's police force he oversaw investigations for the city's chief prosecutor. He comes from a long line of hard-nosed security officials. His grandfather, Marcelino Garcia Barragan, was Mexico's defense minister in the 1960s, an especially repressive juncture of the Institutional Revolutionary Party's long rule. He's best known for overseeing a notorious Army sniper attack on student protesters in 1968, just before Mexico hosted the Olympics. Several hundred died and many more were wounded. His father, Javier Garcia Paniagua, oversaw a federal security agency during the 1970s, a period in which it faced accusations of violently targeting student and guerrilla groups. Notoriously guarded about his private life, García Harfuch declined multiple interview requests. He has described his father as tough but loving, but spoken little about his family or how its experiences shaped his approach to security. Garcia Harfuch (right) delivers a security briefing with President Claudia Sheinbaum during a morning press conference in Mexico City on Aug. 12 | BLOOMBERG He speaks so infrequently about his daughters it's unclear how old they are, or how many he has. He was once rumored to be dating businesswoman Ninfa Salinas, daughter of Mexican billionaire Ricardo Salinas, but hasn't revealed anything about a partner recently. Garcia Harfuch's only Instagram posts that aren't related to work show him with his dogs: Azam, a Dutch Shepherd, and Drink, a Labrador. The devotion to work means he rarely sees family, even his mother Maria Sorte, a famous actress. "Obviously, I haven't been very present and, after what happened, less,' he told an interviewer last year, referring to the ambush. "There's been a distance, also from my mom. You have to stay away.' Expanded powers García Harfuch sought to capitalize on that success with a brief run to succeed Sheinbaum as mayor in 2024, but failed to win the nomination to represent Morena, the dominant party to which they both belong. He coasted to victory in a Senate race instead. Just a month after he took office, Sheinbaum made him security minister, tasking García Harfuch with taking their Mexico City approach national. The push has focused on bolstered intelligence gathering, and last month, Morena used congressional majorities to approve legislation that granted wider access to surveillance tools that previously only the Defense Ministry and Navy could utilize. Ricardo Trevilla Trejo | BLOOMBERG That has given Garcia Harfuch powers his predecessors lacked. But it has also drawn criticism from opponents who argue the law, which increases access to GPS and other civilian data, will allow the government to spy on law-abiding citizens and create a dangerous dragnet. "They're seeking to enable the federal government to access any Mexican citizen's photo, fingerprints, all your Amazon purchases, your live geolocation, if you stayed in a hotel, what time you leave your home, where you go,' Sen. Ricardo Anaya, an opposition leader, warned during legislative debate. "It's the final nail in the coffin for privacy in Mexico and the establishment of a spy government,' he added. Sheinbaum insists surveillance will require a court order. But the authorities have created internal challenges too. Her predecessor and mentor, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, concentrated security powers inside an expanded Mexican military, which saw its budget grow alongside its institutional muscle. Sheinbaum's efforts to delegate more of that responsibility to Garcia Harfuch risks setting off a power struggle inside the government, and Defense Minister Ricardo Trevilla Trejo has at times appeared uncomfortable with his counterpart's expanded role, according to a person familiar with their relationship. Trevilla Trejo didn't respond to a request for comment. Gun in hand He and Garcia Harfuch have publicly worked together. Late last year, they traveled to the city of Culiacan shortly after a bitter civil war erupted among rival factions of the powerful Sinaloa Cartel. The violence ignited after the group's legendary co-founder Ismael "El Mayo' Zambada was abducted by a son of his longtime partner, jailed drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo' Guzman, and turned over to U.S. authorities. Fallout from the betrayal has taken the lives of hundreds. A screen displays the faces of 26 people extradited to the U.S. on drug trafficking charges during a news conference in Mexico City on Aug. 13. | BLOOMBERG Garcia Harfuch and Trevilla Trejo toured the streets of the city, a display meant to blunt the political risks the brutality posed early in Sheinbaum's tenure. Far from a desk cop, Garcia Harfuch has earned respect from rank-and-file military and security forces by showing up, gun-in-hand, on the front lines, the person said, requesting anonymity to speak candidly. He also details his blows against cartels in splashy social media posts that tout arrests and busted drug labs, with fentanyl a special focus. The task is massive. Mexico experienced more than 200,000 homicides under Lopez Obrador, the bloodiest presidential term in the nation's recent history. AMLO, as the former leader is known, took a more passive approach that focused on what he described as root causes of crime, including poverty and youth unemployment. AMLO often clashed with the U.S., and in 2020, sharply limited U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration operations inside the country. Sheinbaum has opted for more conciliatory dealings, even while drawing a red line on U.S. military intervention in Mexican territory. On Monday, the DEA touted a "major new initiative' to collaborate with Mexico, launching multi-week trainings for Mexican investigators alongside U.S. officials to target cartel drug-running along the shared border. While the announcement didn't go into detail, it also cited arms trafficking as part of its "Project Portero' remit. That's a longstanding Mexican priority since most weapons seized from cartel crime scenes are smuggled from the U.S. These kinds of joint efforts have turned Garcia Harfuch into a frequent visitor to Washington to meet with Trump administration officials. "President Sheinbaum and Secretary Garcia Harfuch have maintained steady communication with their U.S. counterparts on security issues,' according to a U.S. Department of State spokesperson who touted "especially robust' working-level coordination between military and law enforcement agencies. In February, Sheinbaum authorized the unusual transfer of senior Mexican drug traffickers to face U.S. charges in February. Another group was delivered to U.S. custody last week. Still, Mexico's volatile criminal scene could explode at any time. In May, motorcycle-mounted assassins gunned down two senior aides to Mexico City Mayor Clara Brugada in broad daylight, rocking the country. Garcia Harfuch, who compulsively checks his phone at events, learned of the attack during a news conference with Sheinbaum. He calmly walked over to show her the news. Like so many other brazen crimes in Mexico, the perpetrators have yet to be brought to justice.
