US President Donald Trump’s threat to slap a 50 per cent import tax on goods from Brazil has sparked anxiety in the country’s farms and ranches over the potential damage to its world-leading shipments of orange juice, coffee and beef.
The Latin American nation is the biggest global exporter and the main foreign supplier to the US of all three agricultural commodities. As the August 1 deadline for the tariffs to be imposed approaches, there is alarm among producers over the impact on sales and warnings that US shoppers will end up paying more for the everyday staples.
“Everyone is afraid of the American tariff,” said Rodrigo Pereira, commercial director of Laranja Boschiero, an orange grower in Limeira, a municipality in São Paulo state known for the fruit.