The tariffs of up to 50% imposed by the United States on Brazilian products – announced by President Donald Trump and which came into force last Thursday (6) – could affect more than half of the mapped enterprises (54%) related to socio-biodiversity in the Legal Amazon.
According to a survey of enterprises that manufacture products linked to the Amazon bioeconomy, developed by IPAM (Amazon Environmental Research Institute) in partnership with ABDI (Brazilian Industrial Development Agency), this universe covers 5,400 of the 11,000 active CNPJs mapped in the region that are part of potentially affected production chains. Of these, at least 216 producing companies export to the US and will be directly impacted.
Of all the products mapped by the project, only Brazil nuts and rubber escaped the tariffs announced by the US government. The others outside the exemption list, such as açaí, cocoa, honey, vegetable oils, spices, fish and aquaculture items, generated around 165 million dollars for the Legal Amazon bioeconomy in export products to the US, totaling approximately 39,000 tons.
Sustainable development could be impacted
The enterprises mapped are part of the production chains of the Amazon bioeconomy, made up of production activities involving the extraction, production and commercialization of biodiversity resources through sustainable management. They are emerging as part of the climate solution for sustainable development and involve small producers, cooperatives and bio-industries that already face daily challenges linked to logistics, credit, infrastructure and adding value.
IPAM researchers say that tariffs could be yet another barrier to income generation for populations in vulnerable territories in the Amazon. The US tariff exemptions, on the other hand, were mainly applied to the mining and oil sectors and to the manufacture of car and aviation parts, activities that are known to be intensive in emissions and environmental degradation.
Bioindustrialization as a Strategy
In the analysis of Gabriela Savian, IPAM’s Director of Public Policy, the production chains of the Amazon bioeconomy, like other export products, are vulnerable to external trade impositions. “Despite the exemption of a few items, such as Brazil nuts, tariffs tend to increase the economic pressure on small producers and bio-industries, precisely in a sector that still faces difficulties in adding value and competing on fairer terms in international markets,” says Savian.
One way to strengthen the competitiveness of the Brazilian bioeconomy in the face of changes in the international scenario is to diversify national and international markets and strengthen the bioindustrialization of Amazonian products, according to Rafaela da Costa, a researcher at IPAM.
“Exporting primary products without adding value locally makes us vulnerable to this kind of external shock. The bioeconomy isn’t just environmental – it’s economic, social and political. That’s why bioindustrialization is strategic for the Amazon and needs to be accompanied by complementary strategies, through public policies that promote productive inclusion, innovation and infrastructure,” says Reis.
According to IPAM researchers, just as the Brazilian government acts in defense of the large industrial sectors, the Amazon bioeconomy chains should also be considered in the country’s commercial and industrial agendas. This journey can be traced through the development of internal public policies to encourage local value addition.
Cover photo: Family flour production (Pedro Alcântara M’bóia)
