Brazilian exports to the US fall 18.5% after tariff hike

Brazil's exports to the United States fell 18.5% in August, compared to the same month last year, according to trade balance data released by the Ministry of Development, Industry, Commerce and Services (MDIC) this Thursday (4). The consolidated data for August is the first since the 50% US tariff increase on Brazilian products came into effect on the 6th.

In August of last year, Brazil's total sales to the US reached US$3.39 billion. This year, the cumulative total for the month was US$2.76 billion, the lowest for an August since 2020, the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Among the main items on the Brazilian export agenda to the US, significant drops, compared to August last year, occurred in aircraft (93%), turbojets, turboprops and other gas turbines (60.9%), essential oils (52.25%), profiled wood (48.52%) and frozen beef (47.69%).

Compared to the previous month, the drop was 27.7%. In July, Brazilian exports to Donald Trump 's country totaled US$3.82 billion, the highest monthly value since June 2022, largely due to early purchases by American importers, aware of the imminent tariff increase starting on the 9th of that month.

On that date, the US president announced, through a letter addressed to the Brazilian leader, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), the imposition of the surcharge citing, among other reasons, the case to which former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL) is responding in the Supreme Federal Court (STF), which Trump classified as a “witch hunt”.

The executive order that made the tariff hike official, signed on July 30, included a list of nearly 700 items exempt from the surcharge, including some of Brazil's main exports to the US, such as oil, aircraft, and orange juice. The tariffs were maintained, however, on coffee and beef, important Brazilian commodities sold to the US market.

US imports rise 4.6%

Imports of American products, in turn, increased 4.6% in August compared to the same month in 2024, reaching US$3.99 billion. Thus, the trade balance with the US resulted in a deficit of US$1.23 billion for the month.

As a result, from January to August 2025, the Brazilian deficit in the trade balance between the two countries grew by 56.9%, reaching US$3.39 billion.

For the whole of 2024, the balance was in deficit for Brazil by US$ 283.8 million.

Exports to China grow 30%; to Argentina, 40%

Also according to MDIC data, exports to China (including Hong Kong and Macau) grew 29.9% last month, year-on-year, totaling US$9.6 billion.

Brazilian sales to Argentina rose 40.4%, reaching US$1.64 billion.