Overview

• President Lula signed a provisional decree establishing a 30 billion real credit line for exporters, with an additional 4.5 billion real fund to support smaller firms.
• The relief package includes export credit insurance, tax deferrals for affected companies and state procurement of goods originally destined for the US market.
• The measures take effect immediately but require ratification by the Brazilian Congress within 120 days to become permanent.
• Brazil has refrained from imposing reciprocal duties and is pursuing bilateral negotiations alongside a formal WTO complaint to challenge the US measures.
• The government is boosting efforts to diversify export markets toward partners such as India, China and Russia to reduce dependence on US demand.