US opens trade probe on Brazil
The United States has placed Brazil — along with over 60 other economies — under a trade investigation probing possible shortcomings in forced‑labor controls in global supply chains, a move that could force compliance reviews and sourcing shifts for CPG buyers reported. The investigation raises the likelihood of new reporting obligations and supplier remediation costs for companies sourcing Brazilian inputs.
The U.S. Trade [Representative initiated]ustr.gov Section 301 investigations on March 12, 2026 targeting failures to ban imports produced with forced labor. [USTR set]ustr.gov a public-comment deadline of April 15, 2026 and scheduled public hearings beginning April 28, 2026, with written comments directed to docket USTR–2026–0133 and requests to appear to USTR–2026–0134. Section 301 remedies can include additional duties or other trade restrictions, a possibility flagged by trade advisers in contemporaneous client advisories. taxnews.ey.com Trade‑and‑logistics advisers such as C.H. [Robinson warned]chrobinson.com that the review will drive supplier‑level compliance checks and could change sourcing costs and lead times for multinational CPG supply chains. U.S. goods imports from Brazil totaled approximately $44.18 billion in 2024, a baseline for quantifying direct sourcing exposure. tradingeconomics.com Brazil’s leading export categories in 2025 included soybeans, frozen beef and raw sugar—items directly relevant to food and ingredient supply for consumer packaged goods. worldstopexports.com Brazil had already been the subject of a separate Section 301 probe opened on July 15, 2025 that examined digital‑trade rules, preferential tariffs, ethanol market access, intellectual property and deforestation policies. govinfo.gov USTR’s Federal Register [notice directs]ustr.gov interested parties to submit comments via its electronic portal by April 15 and allows post‑hearing rebuttal comments seven days after the last hearing day, creating concrete near‑term deadlines for finance and sourcing teams. ustr.gov FP&A should prepare a three‑scenario briefing (baseline, selective‑HTS code duties, and broad HTS duties) using the $44.18B 2024 import baseline and stress tests for Brazilian soy, beef and sugar inputs, citing the 2018 Section 301 precedent where USTR imposed additional duties that reached up to 25% on affected Chinese imports. tradingeconomics.com
