Hi,

Last week we reported on how American trade and foreign policy is playing out in Africa, and its relevance to multilateral efforts in Geneva.

In today’s story, my colleague Bianca Carvalho, looks at an on-going investigation initiated by the United States Trade Representative earlier this year, examining Brazil’s trade practices, including aspects on intellectual property protection. This has implications for the access to medicines, and for global health. Brazil is one of the biggest pharmaceutical markets globally.

Read this detailed story to understand how Brazilian authorities have responded. We also discuss Brazil’s role and leadership on these issues across policy forums in Geneva.

Thank you for reading.

Also, last call for those of you who may be interested in a workshop I am offering tomorrow to present the state of play on the negotiations on the Pathogen Access Benefit Sharing System.

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More soon!

Best,

Priti

Feel free to write to us: patnaik.reporting@gmail.com or Follow us on Twitter: @filesgeneva

I. GHF ANALYSIS

U.S. Trade Pressure on Brazil Raises Concern Over the Access to Medicines

By Bianca Carvalho

Carvalho is a fellow at Fiocruz, a public health research institution in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. At Fiocruz, she works with the Executive Secretariat of the Global Coalition for Local and Regional Production, Innovation and Equitable Access. She holds a Master’s degree in Global Health from the Geneva Graduate Institute. She is also a writer for Geneva Health Files.

Like many other countries, Brazil has been caught in the crosshairs of the protectionist trade and foreign policy pursued by the United States. This has implications for global health, particularly the access to medicines.

Brazil has been on the radar of the Trump administration since July 9, 2025, when U.S. president, Donald Trump, announced the imposition of a 50% tariff on Brazilian products entering the country, citing a trade deficit with Brazil.

On 15 July 2025, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) launched a Section 301 investigation examining Brazil, citing a wide range of alleged unfair trade practices from digital trade barriers to deforestation. But among the issues listed, that called the attention of public-health advocates is intellectual property protection.

For Brazilian health organizations, and international groups such as Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), an investigation about intellectual property under Section 301 is a warning sign that Washington may once again seek to pressure countries into strengthening intellectual property rules, potentially undermining the access to medicines in low-and-middle-income countries.

Recent updates on the negotiation between Brazil and the U.S. show some progress on the tariff front. However, official sources told us that Brazilian authorities remain highly concerned about the ongoing USTR investigation on intellectual property.

As Latin America’s largest, Brazil’s pharma market is variously estimated to grow to more than $US 40 billion by 2030. The health system in the country is built on a constitutional foundation committing to universal healthcare for more than 200 million Brazilians.