What Does Brazil Export to the United States? Products, Sectors and Market Trends

Brazil exports crude oil, iron ore, iron and steel products, aircraft, fuels, coffee, beef, juice, pulp, wood and machinery to the United States, among other goods. These shipments supply both American consumers and U.S. industrial supply chains. Given that breadth, the trade relationship cannot be understood from the total export value alone.

A decline in overall exports may mask growth in particular industries. Conversely, higher revenue can reflect rising prices without any increase in physical shipments. For Brazilian companies selling into the U.S. market, the picture becomes more useful when export values are examined alongside tonnage, container volumes, products and logistics corridors.

How Brazilian exports to the United States are distributed

According to Brazil's Secretariat of Foreign Trade (Secex/MDIC), exports to the United States totaled US$24.10 billion from January through August 2026, down 9.7% from the same period in 2025. Manufacturing accounted for US$20.07 billion, or 83.3% of the total. That category includes processed foods, pulp and metallurgical products, as well as aircraft and equipment.

Brazilian exports to the United States by major sector | January–August 2026 | US$ FOB

Figures and shares are rounded. Other activities, which are not broken out in this table, accounted for approximately 0.3% of the total. Year-over-year changes compare January–August 2026 with the same period in 2025. Source: Secex/MDIC, Brazilian Foreign Trade Results.

Exports declined across all three major sectors, though by different degrees. Of the ten products with the highest export values to the United States during the period, six registered declines, according to an Amcham Brasil analysis of Comex Stat data. Crude oil fell 31.5%; semi-finished iron and steel products, 4.3%; pig iron, 8.1%; and pulp, 1.9%. The differences illustrate why Brazil's export basket needs to be examined product by product.

Agribusiness also extends across more than one statistical category. Some goods originating on farms are processed before export and counted as manufactured products. Looking only at the 'agriculture and livestock' category would therefore understate the sector's role.

Trade with the U.S. weakens in 2026, but not across every industry

Brazil's declining sales to the United States contrasted with a 10.3% increase in its exports to the world from January through August 2026. As a result, the U.S. share of total Brazilian export value fell from 11.7% to 9.6% year over year. The United States remained Brazil's second-largest export destination, behind China.

August brought an improvement in dollar terms, although it did not reverse the year-to-date decline. Exports to the United States rose 12.1% in value that month to US$3.19 billion, while the physical quantity shipped fell 17.3% compared with August 2025, according to Amcham Brasil. Higher average prices helped support revenue; beef, aircraft, coffee and semi-finished iron and steel products also posted increases in quantity during the month.

Containerized exports also declined, although the pace of the contraction eased in August. Datamar's proprietary data show that Brazil shipped 228,583 TEUs to the United States from January through August 2026, down 15.6% from the same period in 2025. In August alone, however, shipments reached 32,367 TEUs, an increase of 41.9% year over year. The monthly gain narrowed the year-to-date decline without eliminating it. Because a TEU represents the capacity of one 20-foot container rather than the value of its cargo, this series specifically tracks containerized trade.

Brazilian containerized exports to the United States | January–August 2025 vs. January–August 2026 | TEUs

Source: DataLiner

The indicators describe different aspects of the trade. FOB values, metric tons and TEUs are not interchangeable. The public statistics and DataLiner figures presented here, including the port and company-level rankings, cover January through August 2026. Keeping revenue, cargo weight and container volumes separate is essential to making meaningful comparisons.

Iron ore rises as steel and pulp retain their weight in maritime trade

The latest DataLiner figures show sharply different trends among the main commodity groups shipped by sea from Brazil to the United States. Steel products led by volume from January through August 2026, at 5.32 million metric tons, up 0.8% from the same period in 2025. Iron ore followed with 3.78 million metric tons, an increase of 62.0% and the largest absolute gain among the leading groups.

Pulp reached 1.96 million metric tons and was virtually unchanged (+0.9%), while crude oil fell 34.0% to 1.66 million metric tons. Petroleum products (-39.5%), wood (-33.9%) and fruit juice (-2.3%) also declined. Meat shipments rose 25.9%, although from a smaller volume base. This variation across sectors helps explain why the overall decline in bilateral trade does not affect every supply chain in the same way.

Leading commodity groups exported by sea from Brazil to the U.S. | January–August 2026 | Metric tons

Source: DataLiner

Ports reflect the specialization of the cargo they handle

The importance of iron ore, steel, oil and pulp is also evident in the port figures. Santos led Brazilian maritime exports to the United States from January through August 2026, handling 2.49 million metric tons despite a 22.2% year-over-year decline. Ponta Ubu followed with 2.23 million tons, up 83.1%. Itaguaí (1.95 million tons), Rio de Janeiro (1.71 million) and Tubarão (1.47 million) rounded out the top five.

This ranking would look very different if the analysis covered only containers or a single commodity. Specialized terminals matter because different cargoes require different storage facilities, inland connections, equipment and shipping services. For exporters, comparing ports can reveal dependence on a particular corridor, alternative logistics options and shifts in shipment patterns.

Leading Brazilian ports for maritime exports to the U.S. | January–August 2026 | Metric tons

Source: DataLiner

Who ships these volumes? The industries behind the numbers

Company-level data add another dimension by showing whether shipments are spread across numerous participants or concentrated among a few large operators. This article does not identify individual companies for confidentiality reasons. The volumes nevertheless point to the prominence of mining, steelmaking, pulp and other industrial activities in trade with the United States.

Among the five largest participants in this dataset, individual shipment volumes ranged from 1.26 million to 2.23 million metric tons from January through August 2026. Mining and steelmaking account for four of these operators, alongside a major pulp producer. The latest extract updates their volumes and ranking positions but does not include comparable 2025 figures from which to calculate company-level year-over-year changes.

Largest company-level volumes in Brazil–U.S. maritime trade | January–August 2026 | Anonymized data

Source: DataLiner

Company concentration can be particularly useful in commercial analysis. If shipments of a product grow while its largest exporters grow even faster, they may be gaining share within that trade flow. New shippers entering the market, or a declining level of concentration, may point to a broader base of participants. Such comparisons require consistent filters for product, period, unit of measurement and each company's role in the shipment.

Company identities, complete rankings, historical series and additional breakdowns by product, port, carrier, origin and destination are available through a DataLiner subscription, subject to the platform's access and usage terms.

Tariffs make product-level analysis even more important

The U.S. tariff framework changed in 2026, making it especially risky to assume that every Brazilian export faces the same rate. A February 20 executive order ended the additional tariffs imposed under IEEPA that were covered by the order, including the 2025 measures targeting Brazil, but left other trade measures in place, including those under Sections 232 and 301.

On July 15, 2026, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) announced an additional 25% tariff on certain Brazilian goods under Section 301. Another measure, published that month, imposed a 12.5% tariff on a group of economies that includes Brazil, subject to exemptions. According to an MDIC summary dated July 24, the two measures may add up to 37.5% when they apply to the same product; goods covered by sector-specific Section 232 measures are treated differently. The estimate that 52.7% of Brazil's export basket would be exempt from these additional tariffs uses 2024 trade as its baseline and does not mean exemption from ordinary U.S. import duties. Among products facing the highest additional tariffs, Brazilian exports to the United States fell 29.1% from January through August 2026, according to Amcham Brasil.

For an individual shipment, companies need to check the applicable Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) code, origin, date of entry, exemptions and any other trade measures. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) also directs importers to the relevant Chapter 99 provisions and updated trade guidance. Brazil's NCM classification can help begin the review, but it does not replace classification under the U.S. tariff schedule.

From exposure to the U.S. market to finding new destinations

The United States may account for a much larger share of an individual company's sales than it does of Brazil's overall exports. Measuring exposure therefore starts with the company's own portfolio: the share of export revenue tied to the destination, the products involved, their margins, the concentration of buyers and the sales already committed under contract.

The search for alternatives should likewise begin with the product itself. Countries with recurring purchases, growth over comparable periods and an existing presence of Brazilian suppliers offer a starting point. Commercial viability, however, depends on freight costs, duties, market-access requirements, delivery times, product adjustments and the market's actual capacity to absorb more goods.

From national trade statistics to DataLiner insights

Shipment data become commercial intelligence when these factors are examined together. DataLiner supports deeper analysis of maritime trade by product, country, port, carrier and company, depending on the available coverage. With consistent filters, exporters can compare periods, identify sectors and participants gaining ground, track logistics corridors and research other destinations already served by businesses in their industry.

For Brazilian exports to the United States, DataLiner's latest series shows a 15.6% decline in containerized shipments even as iron ore exports by sea increased 62.0% by weight. Steel products and pulp maintained substantial volumes, with year-over-year changes close to zero. These divergent trends help explain why the overall value of exports tells only part of the story.

With historical data, rankings and detailed filters, businesses can move beyond the broad question, 'What does Brazil export to the United States?' and focus on what informs a commercial decision: who ships each product, through which ports, in what volumes, how quickly those volumes are changing and which alternative markets deserve attention.