Wall Street Journal
Brazil’s government Monday published a list of 222 U.S. products that may be subject to tariff increases as a result of a World Trade Organization ruling earlier this year condemning U.S. subsidies to its cotton industry.
The government said the list would be made available for public consultation until Nov. 30 before it begins a final decision-making process on retaliations. According to the government announcement published in its federal register, items on the list could be subject to tariff increases of up to 100 percentage points.
In addition to cotton and other agricultural and textile products, the list includes other goods such as motor vehicle products, electronics, cosmetics, medical equipment and pharmaceutical products.
Speaking at the announcement of foreign trade results Monday, Brazil’s Foreign Trade Secretary Lytha Spindola said the list represented about 11% of Brazilian imports from the U.S.
“If the subsidies aren’t removed, we will exercise our right to retaliation,” said Spindola.
The secretary said retaliation could begin as soon as January after recommendations are received from local industry on product selection.
The WTO in June ruled that Brazil could impose retaliatory measures against U.S. subsidies that Brazil alleged caused more than $3 billion in damages to its industry.
Brazil initially sought at least $2.5 billion in retaliatory rights, but according to the government’s latest estimates the ruling will allow for retaliation of around $900 million.
Of that penalty amount, about half could be applied against U.S. goods and the other half could be applied against U.S. services and intellectual property rights.
According to Spindola, the products on the list released Monday were selected according to their value and didn’t include capital goods or goods not available from suppliers outside the U.S. She said 64% of the products on the list were consumer goods and the remainder were industrial supplies.
(Story found in original format here.)