USA confirms new 25% tariff on Brazilian products The Minister of Finance, Dario Durigan, stated this Thursday (16) that Brazil will preserve financial and geological sovereignty "without virality" and that the government will remain open to diplomacy and negotiations. "We will continue protecting Pix, as [Central Bank] President Gabriel Galípolo said, the greatest symbol of our financial sovereignty. We will continue protecting our geological sovereignty without going viral and we will continue protecting our democracy against undue international interference," said Durigan. The declaration comes one day after the United States confirmed the application of an additional 25% tariff on Brazilian products, with an extensive list of exempt items. The measure comes into force on July 22. Dario Durigan, Minister of Finance Júlio César Silva/MDIC The Minister of Finance also stated that with the new tariffs, some sectors may be affected, but the Trump government's measure will not affect "the country's economy as a whole". "We already have the mechanisms to protect our companies and our jobs ready. Therefore, with the coordination of Minister Márcio Elias Rosa, the affected sectors will once again be called to dialogue and we will expand and reinforce the Sovereign Brazil Plan, which provides support to those who were unfairly affected by the United States tariffs", stated the Minister of Finance, Dario Durigan. According to the American government, the tariff is the result of an investigation that concluded that "several practices in Brazil are considered unjustifiable and discriminatory, restricting the competitiveness of American farmers, workers, innovators and exporters." ?The United States' decision is the result of a USTR trade investigation that took a year, based on Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, a mechanism that allows the American government to investigate and combat possible trade barriers in other countries. READ ALSO: PIX, corruption, actions against big techs and even deforestation: the Trump administration's arguments for a new tariff against Brazil See below the arguments used by the USTR to apply the tariff: PIX; Corruption in Brazil; STF actions against big techs; Unfair treatment in Brazilian tariff policy; Inadequate protection of intellectual property; Tariffs on ethanol; Logging. Understand chronology The United States government confirmed the application this Wednesday (15) of a new 25% tariff on Brazilian products after concluding a trade investigation conducted by the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR). The measure was adopted based on Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, a mechanism used by the American government to investigate practices considered harmful to the country's trade. Despite the new rate, an extensive list of products was excluded from the surcharge, such as beef and coffee. The Brazilian government reacted by stating that the measure had no economic justification and was motivated by political reasons. READ ALSO PIX, STF, social networks: understand US criticism for proposing 25% tariff US investigation against PIX exposes global dispute over control of digital payments In a statement, President Lula's government classified the decision as a "regrettable milestone" in the bilateral relationship and stated that it may resort to the Economic Reciprocity Law. ?The Reciprocity Law is a mechanism that allows a country to apply the same measures, restrictions or tariffs to another nation that it suffered from it. In practice, if a foreign government imposes "unfair" unilateral sanctions or barriers, Brazil uses the norm to react in kind, adopting equivalent restrictions to rebalance relations and protect the economy. Planalto also maintains that the accusations presented by the USA are not sustainable and recalls that Brazil tried, over the last year, to reverse the investigations and avoid the adoption of tariffs.