Trade, diplomacy, sanctions, investment and policy links between Brazil and the United States.
On May 6, 1997, a consortium bought control of Companhia Vale do Rio Doce in an auction held under Brazil’s privatization program. The transaction faced court challenges but was completed the same day, and the company—now Vale—remains a globally material iron-ore producer.
Operation Car Wash began in 2014 as a financial-crimes inquiry and grew into Brazil’s most consequential corruption investigation. Its legacy includes findings about Petrobras contracting and a Supreme Court sequence that voided convictions against Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva without deciding the underlying allegations.
Operation Car Wash entered its first overt phase on March 17, 2014. Petrobras later recognized R$6.194 billion in improperly capitalized overpayments, while U.S. authorities found that the company and investors had been harmed by the scheme and that its disclosures misled markets.
Operation Lava Jato, known internationally as Car Wash, became one of Brazil’s most consequential anti-corruption investigations. Its record includes major corporate settlements and compliance commitments, but also later Supreme Court rulings that annulled specific proceedings and excluded a category of Odebrecht-derived evidence.
Brazil’s exports rose 10.3% in the first eight months of 2026, with China taking a larger role in the increase while shipments to the United States declined. The figures highlight a growing concentration question for Latin America’s largest economy rather than proving dependence on any one market.
Brazil will not invoke its Economic Reciprocity Law while it is negotiating with the United States over additional tariffs, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said. The stance preserves a potential response if talks fail, without itself imposing new restrictions.
Federal Police seized about R$1.85 million in Amapá while investigating allegations that welfare benefits and food baskets were tied to political support. Seven people are under investigation; no arrests were reported.
Brazil’s Federal Police carried out two searches in a confidential, preventive inquiry into alleged plans that could endanger U.S. diplomatic facilities. The force said it had not corroborated the reported risks or identified suspects linked to criminal organizations.
Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court upheld the annulment of convictions against Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in April 2021 because the Curitiba court lacked jurisdiction over the cases. The decision was not an acquittal on the underlying allegations, and it came amid a broader Lava Jato record that included independently substantiated Petrobras-related bribery and procurement misconduct.
Date shown is the publication date because no separate historical event date is stored.Brazil’s Federal Police executed two warrants in a confidential investigation into alleged risks to U.S. diplomatic facilities. The force says evidence collected so far shows no concrete plan or effective risk, while seized devices remain under analysis.
On September 27, 2018, Petrobras reached coordinated U.S. resolutions over misleading disclosures and control failures linked to conduct by former executives. Later Brazilian findings estimated cartel-related losses, while the Supreme Federal Court annulled Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s Curitiba convictions on jurisdictional grounds—not on the merits.
Date shown is the publication date because no separate historical event date is stored.