The Brazilian Export and Investment Promotion Agency (ApexBrasil), an agency linked to the federal government, is preparing a market diversification program aimed mainly at sectors affected by the new United States tariffs and those benefiting from the agreement between Mercosur and the European Union. The plan, which will be launched in early August, will involve an investment of R$130 million and will be developed in partnership with the private sector. "It's a general plan, for all sectors, but with special attention to those that, at the same time, are being charged by the USA and will have their tariffs reduced with the Mercosur-European Union agreement", stated the president of ApexBrasil, Laudemir Müller, during a press conference held this Friday morning (17). According to Müller, Europe is among the priorities of the market opening strategy. In his assessment, the agreement between Mercosur and the European Union creates opportunities that can be taken advantage of at this time. New US tariffs could affect 54.5% of SC exports ?The agreement between Mercosur and the European Union, signed in January 2026 after more than 25 years of negotiations, provides for the gradual reduction of tariffs and trade barriers between the two blocs and creates one of the largest free trade areas in the world Central Asian countries, such as Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, are also among the markets considered strategic. The initiative comes after the United States government confirmed, on Thursday (16), the application of a new 25% tariff on Brazilian products, upon 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, an instrument used by the American government to investigate practices considered harmful to the country's trade. Despite the new tariff, an extensive list of Brazilian products were left out of the surcharge. The Brazilian government reacted by stating that the decision had no economic justification and was motivated by political reasons. In addition to market diversification, Müller stated that ApexBrasil will work on two other fronts: expanding the list of products exempt from the American tariff; and increase the international participation of Brazilian sectors that remained free from the new taxation. "One: we will continue this work to increase the exemption. Two: we will expand our work to increase Brazilian participation in sectors that were exempt. And, three, we will work and announce a diversification plan for the markets", detailed Müller. Tariff: Brazilian government says it will announce a support program for affected companies and declares that it may adopt the Reciprocity Law Jornal Nacional/ Reproduction