Brazil: Brazil Lowers Agricultural Tariffs to Fight Inflation

On Thursday May 12, the Government of Brazil (GOB) cut import tariffs for several categories of goods, focusing on food staples in an attempt to reduce consumer inflation. Import tariffs on beef, chicken, corn, wheat flour, wheat, cookies and bakery products were eliminated through the end of the year. As a result, there may be a slight uptick in specialty, high-priced beef imports from the United States. In addition, it is possible that wheat imports from the United States may rise marginally due to the lower tariffs. Overall, given the global demand and price dynamics, as well as depreciated value of the Brazilian real, Post does not anticipate that the lower import tariffs will significantly alter Brazil’s agricultural trade dynamics.