US hits Brazil with 25% tariff on farm machinery, industrial goods Beef and coffee exempted; duties take effect WednesdayA new 25% US tariff will hit a range of Brazilian goods on Wednesday, including farm machinery, wood products, ethanol and apparel, escalating tensions in an already strained relationship between the two most populous countries in the Western Hemisphere, reported Reuters. The tariff is the first levied under the Trump administration's new strategy of using the Trade Act of 1974 to investigate what it considers unfair trade practices. The new tariff threatens between $7 billion and $11 billion of Brazilian exports to the US, according to estimates from Brazil's government and National Confederation of Industry (CNI), respectively. Brazil is the first country hit with a tariff after a year-long Section 301 investigation into unfair trade practices, even though the US has consistently had a trade surplus with Brazil. The US buys one in every five shoes exported from Brazil, according to the Brazilian Footwear Industries Association (Abicalçados).