Before adding taxes, Chinese goods piled up in the South American country's port!
In November, Brazil's ports were filled with electric vehicles from China. The cars, which arrived before the new tariffs hit, are still waiting to be sold.
Since the beginning of this year, Brazil has raised tariffs on China's electric vehicles, photovoltaic and other products, and even affected China's cross-border e-commerce exports.
China's electric car import large
Do you know where is the biggest exporter of electric cars in China? Yes, Brazil. In the Brazilian market, 90 percent of imported electric vehicles come from China.
Byd also set a record in November when it sold more than 12,000 units in Brazil, breaking into the local top 10 for the first time.
Brazil, the world's sixth-largest auto market, has exempted electric and hybrid vehicles from a 35 percent import duty since 2015, a measure that has attracted Chinese automakers.
However, in order to protect the development of the domestic auto industry, starting this year, Brazil reinstated a 10% import duty on pure electric vehicles, which increased to 18% in July and eventually reached 35% in July 2026. Hybrid cars are subject to a 15 percent import tax starting this year, rising to 25 percent in July, and will reach 35 percent by July 2026.
So Brazil's car importers opened the "grab for imports" : in the first quarter of this year, Brazil's imports of Chinese cars surged by 450% compared with the same period in 2023, until now, Brazil's ports are still piling up more than 70,000 unsold Chinese electric vehicles.
A wide range of strong Chinese exports have also been hit
According to customs data, in the first 10 months of this year, China's exports of intermediate goods to Brazil 216.86 billion yuan, an increase of 11.8%, accounting for 50.2% of the total value of China's exports to Brazil, of which textiles, auto parts, electrical equipment, flat panel display modules and other intermediate exports have grown rapidly. The growth rates were 15.4%, 26.5%, 31.2% and 22.2%, respectively.
Behind this, however, is Brazil's repeated efforts to buy Chinese products.
In terms of photovoltaic products, China's photovoltaic module products occupy a dominant position in the Brazilian market with a market share of 99%. As of January 1, 2024, Brazil has reinstated import duties on photovoltaic modules and wind turbines (the import duty rate for photovoltaic modules is 10.8%). At the end of the year, on November 15, Brazil's Ministry of Development, Industry, Trade and Services (MDIC) revealed that it would increase the import tax rate on photovoltaic modules from 9.6% to 25%.
On October 17, the Foreign Trade Executive Committee (Gecex) of Brazil's Ministry of Industry and Commerce Development and Trade (MDIC) imposed tariffs on a range of Chinese goods, including:
A 35 percent tariff on fiber and cable;
25% tariffs on a number of steel products;
The tariff on sodium chlorite increased from 9 percent to 10.8 percent;
Other Chinese goods subject to tariffs include tinsel, sprayers, titanium dioxide (used in paint, sunscreen, food coloring, etc.), and polyester fiber (mainly used in clothing, but also in water pipes, belts, filter cloth, ropes, canvas tents, tires).
In addition, this year Brazil frequently launched anti-dumping investigations against Chinese products, involving speakers, nebulizers, non-surgical latex and PVC gloves, hypodermic needles, hair combs, brass keys, padlocks, ethanolamine and many other products.
Cross-border e-commerce has also been hit hard
In the field of cross-border e-commerce, there are also many sellers who complain about exporting to the Brazilian market this year: "Many customs clearance abnormalities in Brazil".
On August 1 this year, the Brazilian Federal Tax Office announced that the new tax regulations of "small exemption termination" officially took effect, imposing a 20% import tax on cross-border packages of less than $50, and a 60% import tax on those between $50 and $3,000 (the import tax part can be reduced by $20).
Brazil is one of the most difficult countries in the world to clear customs, and the end of the era of "low-value small bags duty-free" has caused China's cross-border e-commerce to suffer heavy losses.
As the largest economy in Latin America, Brazil has more than 215 million people with an average age of 35, high Internet penetration, strong willingness to spend, and rapid growth in e-commerce. Now the "end of small exemptions" means that the Brazilian government is "covering the bottom" of the weak light industry.
The space left for cross-border e-commerce is getting narrower and narrower.
As a potential market for China's exports in recent years, Brazil has attracted much attention from foreign trade people. Under the current circumstances, we pay great attention to the tariff risk!
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