Government finalizes Reciprocity Act decree to respond to Trump's tariffs

The decree regulating the Economic Reciprocity Law , mentioned by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) as a response to the 50% tariffs on Brazilian exports announced by the United States government, was sent to the Planalto Palace for final adjustments.

Next week, the federal government is expected to formalize a committee to discuss possible responses to the tariffs promised by US President Donald Trump, starting August 1st. The committee is expected to be composed of at least five ministers, and also include businesspeople from sectors negatively impacted by the tax, according to a Valor investigation.

According to Roberta Portella, a professor at FGV and a lawyer specializing in International Law, the regulation of the law will define the deadlines for analyzing the procedures to be adopted in public consultations, the alternative measures adopted, and the rules for adopting provisional measures in exceptional cases.

"Therefore, the regulations to be issued will be crucial to define limits, procedural guarantees and defense mechanisms, guaranteeing legal security to international operators and partners," he stated.

Reciprocity Law will be regulated by Monday

Yesterday, the vice-president and minister of Development, Industry, Commerce and Services (MDIC), Geraldo Alckmin, stated that the decree of the Reciprocity Law will be published by next Monday (14).

The law was signed into law by Lula in April, shortly after Trump threatened to apply tariffs to several countries. On Thursday (10), the president of the Chamber of Deputies, Hugo Motta (Republicans-PB), released a joint statement with the president of the Federal Senate, Davi Alcolumbre (União-AP), defending the use of the Economic Reciprocity Law, if negotiation is not possible.

"With great responsibility, this Parliament approved the Economic Reciprocity Law. A mechanism that empowers our country and our people to protect our sovereignty," they state.

As reported by Gazeta do Povo , the government needs to ensure that the countermeasures adopted by Brazil against the US under the Reciprocity Law do not violate World Trade Organization (WTO) principles and backfire . President Lula has already stated that he intends to appeal to the organization to seek a solution to the tariffs.

Committee to discuss measures under the Reciprocity Law against tariffs

In an interview with CBN radio, the vice president also stated that the Reciprocity Law “allows Brazil to defend companies that are in Brazil, including American companies.”

"We have over 4,000 American companies in the country. Starting this [next] week, we'll begin talking to the companies that export the most to the United States," he said.

According to Alckmin, the negotiations will be conducted through a committee created by the federal government to discuss tariffs and countermeasures the country should adopt. The group will be coordinated by the vice president himself.

So far, the expectation is that the heads of the Civil House, Rui Costa; of the Secretariat of Institutional Relations, Gleisi Hoffmann; of the Treasury, Fernando Haddad; and of Foreign Relations, Mauro Vieira, will also join the group, in addition to representatives from the industry.

Embraer and the steel, metallurgy, orange juice, meat, and coffee sectors will be the most affected by the taxes promised by Trump.