Federal Policy

Brazilian Senator Files USTR Comment Opposing Proposed 25% U.S. Tariff on Brazil

A formal submission to the U.S. trade regulator from an opposition senator tests whether the Trump administration's tariff posture toward Brazil reflects diplomatic or purely economic calculation.

The Congressional Times · July 2, 2026

Brazilian Senator Flávio Bolsonaro (PL) submitted a formal written comment to the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) arguing that the agency's proposed 25% tariff on Brazilian goods would deliver a political benefit to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's government, according to reporting by Folha de S.Paulo published in the period leading up to July 2, 2026. The USTR is the federal agency that administers U.S. trade policy and conducts tariff proceedings under statutory authority, including Section 301 and related trade statutes. Public comments submitted to USTR dockets are part of the official administrative record and are accessible through the USTR public portal.

In the document, Senator Bolsonaro wrote that the proposed tariffs 'would give the current Brazilian government exactly the political victory it has been seeking, while simultaneously punishing the American economy and the very Brazilians who advocate for a mutually beneficial relationship with the United States,' according to the Folha de S.Paulo account. The precise USTR docket number associated with the Brazil tariff proceeding was not specified in the available source material; that docket number, if published by USTR, would allow independent verification of the full text of the submission.

Flávio Bolsonaro is a senator representing Rio de Janeiro state and is the son of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who maintained close political alignment with the Trump administration during his own presidency from 2019 to 2022. Senator Bolsonaro's PL party is currently in opposition to the Lula government. His submission to a U.S. regulatory proceeding is a formal public act documented in USTR's administrative record, which is distinct from diplomatic communication conducted through the U.S. State Department or the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The proposed 25% tariff rate cited in the senator's comment falls within the range of tariff actions the Trump administration announced in 2025 under executive trade authorities. The specific legal mechanism authorizing the Brazil-specific tariff — whether Section 232, Section 301, or executive action under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act — was not specified in the available source material. The applicable statute would determine the procedural timeline for a final tariff determination and any available appeal mechanisms under U.S. trade law.

What remains unknown from available public records is whether the USTR has issued a formal response to Senator Bolsonaro's comment, what other entities — including U.S. industry groups, importers, or the Brazilian government itself — have filed in the same docket, and what the USTR's final tariff determination timeline is. The USTR public comment portal and the Federal Register would contain the complete docket record, including all submissions, and would be the primary documents to consult for a full accounting of the proceeding's status.

We Follow the Data, Not the Narrative

The Congressional Times exists because public records are public — and the analysis built from them should not be exclusive to those who can afford $60,000-a-year intelligence subscriptions.

Every story published in The Congressional Times is sourced to a verifiable public record: a court filing, a Senate lobbying disclosure, an FEC contribution record, a USASpending contract, or a verified news report. We state our sources inline. We show our math. When we are wrong, we say so publicly.

We do not editorialize in news coverage. We do not use loaded language. Both political parties are held to identical standards.

The Follow the Money investigations are the heart of this publication. Each begins with Gab-E Political Intelligence running against 10+ million government records before a single word of editorial is written.

How We Source, Verify, and Correct Our Work

Every factual claim in a Congressional Times story is checked against a primary source: a government filing, a court record, a direct quote, before publication. When a claim can't be verified or doesn't hold up as originally reported, we drop it or reframe it. We do not publish disputed claims as settled fact.

When we get it wrong: we correct the story directly, note the correction and date at the bottom of the piece, and update the record. We do not quietly edit and move on.

Bylines: stories with a named byline are written and fact-checked by that person. Stories without a byline are sourced from Gab-E Political Intelligence, our automated research platform, and are labeled as such.

Ownership: The Congressional Times is published by Gab-E Holdings LLC. Gab-E, our intelligence platform, powers our sourcing and research pipeline.

Corrections or concerns: support@gab-e.com