An association representing chemical companies in Brazil, where large American groups operate such as Exxonmobil and Dow Chemical, expressed a “strong concern” on Friday after the publication of an American decree falling under 50% customs duties on Brazilian exports.
The Brazilian chemical sector is intrinsically linked to the United States, said Abiquim in a press release, evoking a relationship marked by “integration” and “cross-investments”.
“The impact will be significant on Brazilian chemical exports, compromising supply chains, employment and investments in both Brazil and in the United States,” said André Cordeiro, president of Abiquim, in the same statement.
Abiquim specifies that more than twenty chemical companies operating in Brazil are held by American capital.
In collaboration with the American Chemistry Council (ACC), the Brazilian association indicates that it has sent a joint declaration to Brazilian and American governments, “asking for measures to avoid infringing the integration and resilience of chemical supply chains, emphasizing the facilitation of exchanges and regulatory cooperation”.
Brazil, which exported $ 2.4 billion in chemicals to the United States last year, has a trade deficit of almost $ 8 billion in this sector vis-à-vis Washington, according to data cited by Abiquim.
The decree signed by President Donald Trump on July 30 concerns approximately $ 1 billion in Brazilian annual chemical exports to the United States, sparing only five products, which represented $ 697 million in 2024.
In addition to direct exports, Abiquim stresses that the impact will affect the companies in the sector, the chemicals used in the composition of many industries such as the food industry, the furniture, the textiles, the leather goods or the rubber. Some of these sectors are already facing cancellations of American orders due to new customs duties.
Even before the decree was published, Abiquim said last week that his sector was already faced with cancellations of contracts, linked to the threat of prices decided by Donald Trump.
