Steel from Brazil: 50% US Tariff (2026)

Brazil is one of the world's largest steel exporters and a significant supplier to the US market. Brazilian steel articles face a 50% Section 232 tariff; derivative steel articles face 25% on full customs value, and the 10% Section 122 surcharge does not stack on the metal content of a Section 232 article — so a wholly-steel article is 50%, not 60%.

Brazil had previously negotiated a quota arrangement with the US for Section 232 (similar to South Korea), but this arrangement was terminated when steel tariffs were doubled to 50% in June 2025. Brazilian steel now faces the full 50% rate with no quota relief.

Key Brazilian steel exports to the US include: semi-finished steel slabs (used by US mills for further processing), flat-rolled products, steel pipe and tube, and specialty steel grades. Major Brazilian steel producers include Gerdau (which also operates US mills), CSN, Usiminas, and ArcelorMittal Brazil.

The SCOTUS ruling did not affect the Section 232 steel rate — Section 232 is independent of the IEEPA tariffs that the Court struck down. The 50% Section 232 component (the entirety of the steel-article tariff) was unaffected by the ruling.

At 50% on steel articles, Brazilian steel is at the same tariff level as most other countries (China, Japan, EU members, India), all of which face 50% Section 232 on wholly-steel articles and 25% on derivatives. The exceptions that offer lower rates: Australia at 10% (Section 232 exempt), the UK's 25% Section 232 arrangement (EPD), and South Korea (quota arrangement).

For importers sourcing Brazilian steel: Gerdau's US operations (mills in Florida, Texas, North Carolina, and elsewhere) produce domestically and avoid the tariff entirely. This vertical integration strategy is increasingly common — importing semi-finished slabs for domestic finishing can sometimes yield lower effective rates than importing finished products, depending on the HTS classification.

Foreign Trade Zones can provide some relief if the finished product faces lower duties than the steel input (inverted tariff situation).