The United States Cattlemen’s Association is urging the U.S. Trade Representative to impose tougher tariffs on Brazilian beef, arguing imports give Brazil an unfair advantage over American cattle producers.
Testifying before USTR, USCA called for an additional 25 percent tariff on all Brazilian bovine products, including beef cuts, trim, and edible offal. The group also asked officials to reject exemptions that could allow products to be relabeled and to require verified improvements in Brazil’s environmental and labor practices before any tariffs are lifted.
“Brazil’s cattle sector enjoys an unfair advantage that no U.S. rancher can—or would ever want to—compete with,” said USCA Director of Policy and Public Affairs Jenna Stanton. “We are simply asking for a market where everyone plays by the same basic rules.”
USCA also says illegal deforestation, forced labor, and corruption in Brazil’s cattle industry create an uneven playing field for U.S. ranchers and justify stronger trade action.
Rleated to the topic of Brazilian beef…..
The Renewable Fuels Association told the U.S. International Trade Commission it supports the Trump administration’s reciprocal tariff on ethanol imports from Brazil, arguing the move is needed to address what it calls unfair trade barriers against U.S. ethanol. RFA officials testified that the United States and Brazil once enjoyed a strong two-way ethanol trade, but said Brazil changed course in 2017 by imposing tariffs that sharply reduced U.S. exports.
“Prior to the implementation of punitive trade barriers, Brazil and the United States enjoyed an open and efficient two-way trading relationship in ethanol,” said RFA General Counsel Ed Hubbard. “Beginning in 2017, Brazil unilaterally abandoned that approach, turning to a pro-tariff policy that disadvantaged U.S. ethanol imports.”
According to RFA, U.S. fuel ethanol exports to Brazil fell to zero in 2023, before recovering modestly to $43 million in 2024 and $68 million in 2025, a fraction of the market Brazil represented just a few years earlier.
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