Our Tuesday Sociedad Media Now newsletter on new developments in U.S.-Latin America relations.

AMERICAS

Brazil’s Companhia Siderurgica Nacional (CSN, National Steel Company), in Volta Redonda, Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil, March 25, 2025. Credit: Lucas Landau/Reuters

Brazil’s U.S. Trade Is Collapsing as Washington Issues New Round of Tariffs

MIAMI — The U.S. share of Brazilian exports hit a historic low of 9.4% in the first quarter of 2026 — the worst figure ever recorded in the bilateral trade relationship — as the Trump administration proposes fresh round of 25% tariffs on June 2 under a Section 301 investigation citing anti-corruption enforcement, intellectual property, and deforestation concerns.

Brazil is responding by accelerating a trade pivot toward China that closed 2025 with record total exports even as shipments to the United States fell $2.6 billion, leaving Miami — the primary gateway between the two economies — caught in the deterioration of the most consequential U.S.-Latin America trade relationship in the hemisphere.

Read full story →

U.S. — Latin America