Overview

• Brazil submitted a 91-page response that rejects the allegations, challenges the investigation’s legitimacy, and says it does not recognize U.S. authority to run a unilateral probe, while calling for “constructive dialogue.”
• The U.S. inquiry, opened in July under Section 301, examines whether Brazil’s digital trade and tariff policies are “unreasonable or discriminatory” and burden U.S. commerce, according to USTR Jamieson Greer.
• Brazil’s submission specifically defends its ethanol market and the Pix digital payments system as not unreasonable, discriminatory, or burdensome to U.S. commerce.
• Brasília argues the process sits outside WTO rules and says it has requested consultations at the WTO over the 50% U.S. tariffs on Brazilian goods.
• Tensions also include U.S. sanctions targeting a Brazilian Supreme Court justice, and the USTR did not immediately comment on Brazil’s filing.