AMAZON REGION — The U.S. Trade Representative launched an investigation into deforestation practices in Brazil in June 2026 and imposed an additional 12.5 percent import tax on imports from Brazil.
The U.S. Trade Representative accused Brazil of six trade practices, including tariffs characterized as unfair, barriers in the ethanol market, and illegal deforestation. The investigation alleges that Brazil violated its environmental laws. These temporary tariffs were implemented under Section 122, which permits levies up to 15 percent. Previous tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act were struck down by the Supreme Court.
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva opposed Section 301 investigations. Marc Busch, an international trade policy and law expert at Georgetown University, stated, "It's just your standard kitchen-sink approach: You throw everything at Brazil because Trump is upset with Brazil, and you see what sticks."
The current Section 122 tariffs are scheduled to expire on July 24, 2026. The investigation document does not explicitly reference climate change. Busch said, "And ironically, now the U.S. takes a page from the E.U.D.R. playbook and castigates Brazil for more or less the same thing." He was referring to the European Union Deforestation Regulation.
Brazil contains approximately 60 percent of the Amazon rainforest. This rainforest absorbs carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Legal deforestation in Brazil primarily results from cattle ranching and agricultural expansion, affecting approximately 3.7 million acres annually. The European Union Deforestation Regulation requires companies to verify that certain commodities are not sourced from deforested land. The United States, Brazil, and more than a dozen other countries argued that the European Union Deforestation Regulation is difficult to measure and that compliance audits are expensive.