Brazil's 25% Section 301 tariff: what importers need to check
On July 22, 2026, an additional 25% Section 301 duty took effect on products of Brazil under HTS 9903.05.01. It is country-wide, it stacks on your base rate, and it carves out Section 232 goods and an 864-provision exemption list. Since July 24 a second Section 301 duty, the 12.5% forced-labor duty, stacks on top. Here is how it resolves and what to check on Brazilian lines.
Last verified against U.S. regulations as of September 11, 2026. See our live status page for current data.
On July 22, 2026, at 12:01 a.m. Eastern Time, an additional 25% ad valorem duty took effect on products of Brazil under a USTR Section 301 action, carried by new HTS heading 9903.05.01 (U.S. note 50). Unlike most tariff news, this one is already live: entries on or after that moment owe the duty now.
If you source from Brazil, here is what actually changed and what to check.
Why this one behaves differently from the China 301 lists
Section 301 is the statute you already know from the China lists, where each list covers specific enumerated HTS codes. The Brazil action uses the same statute but a different shape: 9903.05.01 covers “articles the product of Brazil”, with no list of covered codes. It is country-wide. If a good is a product of Brazil and not carved out, it carries the 25%.
That turns the China reflex around. You do not check a list to find out whether a Brazilian code is covered; everything from Brazil starts out covered. You check the exemption list to find out whether it is not: U.S. note 50(a)(ii) names 864 provisions, under heading 9903.05.03, that do not owe the 25%. The carve-outs are below.
How it stacks
The 25% is an additional duty. It sits on top of the base rate, and through July 23 it also sat on top of the Section 122 reciprocal surcharge. Take ceramic tableware, HTS 6912.00.48, Brazilian origin:
| Program | Chapter 99 | Rate | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| MFN base | (none) | 9.8% | USITC general rate. |
| Section 122 | 9903.03.01 | + 10% | Reciprocal surcharge, through its July 23 sunset. |
| Section 301 (Brazil) | 9903.05.01 | + 25% | 25% on products of Brazil, U.S. note 50. |
| Total (through July 23) | 44.8% | Base + 122 + 301. |
Section 122 expired after July 23, but July 24 was not “one layer less”. The same day the 122 surcharge dropped out, a second Section 301 duty switched on: heading 9903.05.27, an additional 12.5% on products of Brazil under U.S. note 52, the forced-labor action that covers 60 economies. So from July 24 the line is base + 25% + 12.5% = 47.3%, higher than the day before, not lower. The duties are applied independently to the customs value and summed; they do not compound.
What is carved out
Heading 9903.05.01 excepts the products described in headings 9903.05.02 through 9903.05.09. Two of those are decided by the HTS code alone, and they are the ones that change a quote:
- Goods already subject to Section 232 (
9903.05.07). See the next section. - The note 50(a)(ii) list (
9903.05.03): 864 provisions that do not owe the 25%, whatever their use. Roasted coffee (0901.21.00), worked stone (6802.99.00) and network equipment (8517.62.00.20) are on it.
The (a)(ii) list relieves the 25% only. The forced-labor duty has its own exemption lists, so worked stone 6802.99.0050 from Brazil still owes the 12.5% from July 24 and resolves to 19%.
The rest turn on facts about the entry, not the code: goods already in transit before July 22 and entered before July 29 (9903.05.02), eleven described articles narrower than their subheading (9903.05.04), civil aircraft articles (9903.05.05), articles for use in pharmaceutical applications (9903.05.06), donations (9903.05.08), and informational materials (9903.05.09). On those codes the 25% applies unless you claim the exemption for the entry.
The Section 232 carve-out
The 232 exclusion is the one that saves the most on metals lines, and it is testable today. A Brazilian good that already pays a Section 232 duty is carved out of the 25%, not stacked with it. Brazilian steel, aluminium, or copper under 9903.82.xx pays its 232 rate and does not also pay the Brazil 301. Since July 24 it does not pay the forced-labor duty either: note 52 carves out goods under the named Section 232 headings (9903.05.90). Steel tube 7306.30.50 from Brazil resolves to 50%, the 232 rate alone. If your landed-cost model assumes the 25% lands on everything from Brazil, it will over-quote your metals lines.
What we return today
GET /api/v1/tariffs/resolve returns both Brazil Section 301 duties in additional_measures on the lines they apply to: the 25% under 9903.05.01 from July 22, and the forced-labor 12.5% under 9903.05.27 from July 24. When an exemption is decided by the code, the duty moves to suppressed_measures and exempting_chapter_99_code names the heading that removed it: 9903.05.07 (Section 232) or 9903.05.03 (the (a)(ii) list) for the 25%, 9903.05.90 or one of the note 52 lists for the forced-labor duty. When the note 50 exemption depends on a claim (civil aircraft, pharmaceutical use), the 25% stays in the total and the charged measure carries available_exemption naming the heading you would claim.
What to check on Brazilian lines
Pull your Brazil-origin codes with entries on or after July 22. That is your exposure surface: unlike a list-based program, it starts from everything you import from Brazil.
Check them against the note 50(a)(ii) list. A code on it does not owe the 25%. It still owes the forced-labor duty from July 24 unless a note 52 exemption covers it too.
Separate out anything already under Section 232. Brazilian metals under Section 232 are carved out of both Section 301 duties. Together with the (a)(ii) list, this is the part of the analysis that removes cost rather than adds it.
Price July 24 as a step up, not a step down. Section 122’s 10% came off after July 23, and the forced-labor duty came on the same day at 12.5%. A line that owes both Section 301 duties went up: 6912.00.48 rose from 44.8% to 47.3%. A line came out lower only if it is exempt from the forced-labor duty. Price the entry date, not “today,” and quote any entry from July 24 onward with both Section 301 duties where they apply. See the Section 122 sunset for what changed on other origins.
Common questions
Does the 25% apply to all Brazilian goods? It applies to every product of Brazil except the note 50 exemptions. Two are decided by the HTS code: goods already subject to Section 232, and the 864 provisions on the note 50(a)(ii) list. The rest apply only when claimed for the entry: in-transit goods, eleven described articles, civil aircraft, articles for pharmaceutical use, donations, and informational materials. The duty is country-wide; its main exemption is a code list.
When did it take effect? 12:01 a.m. Eastern Time on July 22, 2026. Entries before that moment are not affected.
Does it stack on Section 232? No. Goods already subject to Section 232 are excluded from the Brazil 301. A Brazilian steel article paying its 232 duty does not also pay the 25%, and from July 24 it does not pay the forced-labor duty either.
Does it stack on Section 122?
Yes, through July 23. Section 122 expired after that date, but the forced-labor duty under 9903.05.27 started on July 24, so from July 24 a Brazilian line that owes both Section 301 duties is base + 25% + 12.5%, not base + 25%.
Is this the same as the older Brazil tariffs? No. This is a Section 301 action under HTS 9903.05.01. It is separate from the earlier IEEPA-based Brazil measures, which sit under different headings and were a different statute.