BRAZIL threatened on Thursday to introduce tariffs on goods from the United States.

This followed an announcement on Wednesday that the US would impose a new 25 per cent tariff on certain imports from Brazil, citing unfair trade practices by the world’s 10th-largest economy.

Brazil’s industry minister Marcio Elias Rosa said the move by the US hits about 18 per cent of the country’s exports — or an estimated $7.4 billion (£5.4bn) worth of products.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s office denied US allegations of unfair trade practices.

It said 76 per cent of imports from the US entered Brazil duty-free in 2025, and that the average tariff effectively applied to US products was only 3.1 per cent.

The statement also said it has taken steps to impose reciprocal tariffs, along with other trade-related countermeasures, through its own law and through the World Trade Organisation’s dispute settlement mechanism.

Brazil’s Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira accused the Trump administration of putting pressure on his country into giving US companies exclusive access to some sectors of its economy. He said Brazil has never left the negotiating table.

The Trump administration first imposed a 50 per cent tariff on Brazilian imports last July.

US President Donald Trump cited what he called a “witch hunt” against Brazil’s far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro, a Trump ally on trial at the time for attempting a coup despite his 2022 electoral defeat to Lula.

Mr Bolsonaro was later convicted, and some of those US tariffs were later rescinded.

President Trump at the time also accused Brazil of unfair trade practices.

Brazilian officials have blamed the Bolsonaro family for the latest round of tariffs. Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, a presidential hopeful in October’s elections and son of the former president, visited President Trump and other senior US officials in Washington in May.