Brazil will not invoke its Economic Reciprocity Law while trade negotiations with the United States remain under way, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said on September 21. Lula said Brazil could use the law if an agreement is not reached, keeping the possibility of countermeasures in reserve rather than announcing their immediate adoption.

The position comes amid a dispute over additional U.S. tariffs on Brazilian goods and ahead of a possible meeting between Brazilian ministers and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer around the G20 Trade Ministerial in Milwaukee, scheduled for September 30 and October 1. Reporting has described that bilateral meeting as planned or expected; no joint official confirmation has been provided in the material available.

What happened

Lula's statement means Brazil is not currently applying the powers available under Law No. 15,122 of 2025, known as the Economic Reciprocity Law. The legislation authorizes proportionate commercial countermeasures in certain circumstances, including import restrictions and the suspension of specified obligations related to trade, investment and intellectual property.

The law does not automatically impose measures on the United States or any other country. Any action under it would require a further Brazilian decision. Lula's comments therefore set out a negotiating position: Brazil is continuing talks while retaining an option to respond should those talks fail.

On the U.S. side, actions announced by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative in July imposed an additional 25% tariff on certain Brazilian goods. A separate Section 301 action tied to an investigation into the failure of 60 economies to ban imports produced with forced labor imposed an additional 12.5% tariff on goods from Brazil. For goods covered by both measures, the additional duties total 37.5%.

Why it matters

The dispute combines two tracks: bilateral engagement and the multilateral WTO process. Brazil's decision not to deploy countermeasures while negotiations continue may leave space for a negotiated outcome before it decides whether to use the authority created by its reciprocity law.

At the same time, Brazil has already initiated formal WTO dispute consultations over the U.S. additional duties. The WTO said Brazil's request for consultations was circulated on July 30, 2026. Consultations are the opening procedural phase of a WTO dispute; they are not a panel ruling and do not amount to a finding against either Brazil or the United States.

There is no WTO record in the available material establishing September 25 as a date for Brazil-U.S. consultations. The confirmed upcoming event is the G20 Trade Ministerial in Milwaukee on September 30 and October 1.

The bigger picture

The governments have set out competing positions. The U.S. government characterizes its tariff measures as responses to practices it determined were actionable under Section 301. Brazil contests the measures through the WTO dispute process. Neither position is an adjudicated WTO finding at this stage.

For international businesses and trade partners, the distinction between an authorized power and an applied measure is consequential. Brazil's reciprocity law creates a legal route for potential proportionate action, but Lula said it will not be used while negotiations are ongoing. The U.S. additional duties, by contrast, have been announced under its Section 301 actions.

By the numbers

What happens next

Brazilian ministers are expected to seek discussions with Greer around the Milwaukee ministerial. Whether a meeting takes place, and whether it produces an agreement, remains unknown. Brazil's WTO case is still at the consultation stage, while Lula has said Brazil may consider invoking the Economic Reciprocity Law if negotiations do not result in an agreement.