Alckmin: Government will have a support program for sectors affected by the new tariff In just under five years, PIX went from being a novelty to becoming one of the main forms of payment for Brazilians. For millions of small businesses, it has come to mean immediate receipt, cost reduction and easier cash flow management. But the technology that won over traders and consumers is now at the center of a trade dispute between Brazil and the United States. ??Do you have any reporting suggestions? Send it to g1 President Donald Trump's government included PIX among the arguments used to justify the 25% tariff on Brazilian products exported to the USA. The announcement was made this Wednesday (15). According to documents from the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), the Brazilian system would harm American companies in the payments sector by creating competition considered unequal. ? In the opinion of Americans, the problem is not the use of PIX by Brazilians, but the fact that the system was created and operated by the Central Bank. For the US, this structure gives the system advantages that private companies do not have. In Brazil, however, the logic is different. The system gained ground precisely because of the factors questioned by Americans: it reduced costs, eliminated intermediaries and allowed entrepreneurs to receive money from sales practically in real time. Before PIX, many merchants depended on cash or cards, which involve longer fees and deadlines for transferring amounts. With the system, money enters the account at the same time, making it easier to purchase goods, pay suppliers and organize accounts. This combination turned PIX into one of the main financial tools for small businesses. According to the Financial Habits of Small Businesses survey, carried out by Sebrae in partnership with the Institute for Social, Political and Economic Research (Ipespe), 59% of small business owners already consider PIX the main means of receiving sales. The survey also shows that: 53% use the system as their main tool to pay business partners; among MEIs, 97% use the system as a payment method; for 28% of MEIs, PIX represents more than 75% of revenue; another 20% say that the tool accounts for around half of receipts. “The system is a form of payment that has no return and has become the favorite of small businesses due to its speed of receipt and its contribution to maintaining the cash flow of these companies”, says Rodrigo Soares, president of Sebrae. As a result, the expansion of PIX changed the structure of the payments market. In traditional card purchases, brands, acquirers, banks and other intermediaries participate in the operation. Each step can generate costs. In PIX, however, the transfer occurs directly between financial institutions. Despite this, credit remains essential for purchases in installments. In the opinion of experts, the system created a competitive alternative to cash payments and forced traditional companies to adapt their business models. It is precisely this impact on the payments market that has placed the system at the center of the international trade dispute. Why does PIX bother the USA? In the investigation conducted by the USTR, Brazilian practices were "unjustifiable and discriminatory", harming American farmers, workers, innovators and exporters. The argument is that the Brazilian BC would have created favorable conditions for PIX in relation to foreign private companies operating in the sector. In documents released by the US government, the system is called "PICS" and described as a state electronic payments service that would receive different treatment because it is operated by the Brazilian government. The American assessment is mainly based on three points: The BC acts simultaneously as regulator and operator of the system, defining the rules and managing the PIX infrastructure; The system would have advantages because it does not operate like a traditional private company, as it does not seek to make a profit by charging fees on transactions; American companies could be harmed when competing with a public payments infrastructure. During the presentation of the measures against Brazil, representatives of the Trump administration stated that the intention is not to end the system. "We are not asking Brazil to get rid of PICS or anything that matters to Brazil. That is not a problem. What we do not want is a situation in which American companies are forced to advertise PICS, or are limited by PICS, and that they and PICS receive special treatment simply because they are Brazilian-owned or because they are an electronic payment system." Is there unfair competition? For experts interviewed by g1, PIX has indeed caused a profound transformation in the payments market, but this does not mean an unfair practice. The main American criticism is related to the fact that the BC plays the role of regulator and operator of the system. This, however, was the main factor for success. By creating technological standards, establishing common rules and requiring the participation of financial institutions in the infrastructure, the BC managed to get practically all banks and fintechs to offer the service since its launch. Experts are incisive: the existence of public infrastructure does not mean unfair competition. According to them, PIX did not impede the operation of other payment methods and, since its launch, credit and debit cards and other services have continued to operate in the country. "PIX was not created to compete with or replace other payment methods, such as credit cards. Since the launch of the system, other forms of payment