S. Trade Representative (USTR), it appears that the recent exclusion of Brazilian pig iron from the list of products previously exempt from 25 percent U.
S. import duties may be maintained, market insiders told SteelOrbis.
Brazilian pig iron, from which the United States buys more than 80 percent of the country's exports, may soon be subject to increased import duties in the United States, since apparently the American side is not interested in reaching an agreement. Brazilian media reported that the American negotiators did not make any specific requests and did not respond when alternatives were proposed. According to the reports, the decision on tariffs has already been made.
Media reports indicate that stakeholders in the iron foundry industry have until July 1 to submit their comments ahead of the USTR review hearing scheduled for July 6.
Despite their skepticism, Brazilian negotiators intend to keep negotiations open until the US announces its final decision later in July, hoping that ongoing hearings with representatives of the US private sector can lead to the lifting of tariffs. It is considered important for the US steel and foundry industry.
Sources in the iron foundry industry in the state of Minas Gerais told SteelOrbis that plans are being developed to file a lawsuit in US civil courts specifically targeting Brazilian cast iron.
In 2025, the United States imported 3.365 million tons of pig iron from Brazil, equivalent to 83 percent of Brazil's total exports of these products.
Brazilian cast iron is indispensable to the U.
S. foundry industry, not only because of its competitive price, but also because the country's independent cast iron producers use charcoal as a reducing agent in their blast furnaces, resulting in "close to zero" net CO2 emissions.
When charcoal comes from planted forests, the CO2 emissions generated in blast furnaces are offset by the CO2 absorbed by the next generation of cast iron. trees.
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