Brazil Sees Provisional US Trade Deal Soon as Relations Improve

(Bloomberg) — Brazil hopes to reach a preliminary trade deal with the US as soon as this month, the South American nation’s top diplomat said, as relations between the two countries improve after a months-long feud.

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A final Brazil-US trade agreement would come later, according to Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira, who made the announcement following his Thursday meeting with his US counterpart Marco Rubio in Washington.

Vieira told reporters that Rubio reaffirmed a prior proposal stemming from technical talks for a “provisional deal by the end of this month or early next month.” After that, a final deal would be achieved two or three months later that would “definitively” solve all outstanding issues between both countries, he said.

A brief readout from US State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott confirmed that the two diplomats “discussed a reciprocal framework for the US-Brazil trade relationship.”

Since July, Brazilian exports to the US have faced the prospect of 50% tariffs after US President Donald Trump announced the duties, beyond his 10% across-the-board tariffs, though some key products were exempted beginning the following month.

The US leader’s move was part of an ultimately unsuccessful push to stop the trial of Brazil’s former President Jair Bolsonaro on charges he attempted a coup after his narrow 2022 reelection loss.

High-level talks between the two largest countries of the Americas restarted shortly after Trump and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, known as Lula, briefly crossed paths in September at the United Nations.

The pair met last month in Malaysia, where Lula asked Trump to remove the tariffs as well as sanctions the US government had slapped on Brazilian officials. Lula said afterwards he expected a “definitive solution” with the US soon.

Vieira noted that Brazil’s government sent a trade proposal to US officials last week in response to requests from Washington, and that it’s expecting a response as soon as Friday. He added that he didn’t discuss the proposal’s details with Rubio but only broad issues, nor did he provide details on what was included in the Brazilian proposal.

Trump and his Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent have hinted at lower tariffs on coffee this week, which wasn’t originally included in the long list of Brazilian exports the US previously exempted from its tariffs.