Brazil and U.S. Form Working Group for Potential Trade Agreement

Brazil and the United States have agreed to establish a working group to explore a potential trade agreement, opening a new negotiating track between two of the largest economies in the Americas.

The decision followed a meeting between Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira, Brazilian trade minister Marcio Elias Rosa and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on the sidelines of the G20 Trade Ministers meeting.

According to the Brazilian government statement reported after the meeting, the United States is expected to submit a proposal in the coming weeks setting out the scope of negotiations.

That scope is expected to include both tariff and nontariff issues, making the process potentially relevant to agricultural goods, processed food, industrial products and regulatory market access.

The two countries already have an Agreement on Trade and Economic Cooperation dating from 2011, expanded by a protocol on trade rules and transparency that entered into force in 2022.

The new working group is therefore not a signed free trade agreement. It is an exploratory mechanism intended to define whether and how a broader negotiation could proceed.

Agriculture is commercially important to both countries, and any future discussion of tariffs, standards or customs rules could affect bilateral flows in commodities and food products. No specific agricultural concession has been announced at this stage.

The next concrete step is the U.S. proposal on negotiating scope. Until that document is submitted and agreed, the development should be treated as the opening of a trade process rather than evidence that a final agreement is imminent.