Trump targets Brazil's payments system while dollar stablecoins are quietly overtaking country's payments
The United States will impose a 25% Section 301 tariff on most Brazilian goods starting July 22, targeting what it calls unfair advantages created by Brazil’s state-run Pix instant-payment system.
Intelligence analysis by Llama
The U.S. is trying to protect the dollar, but dollar-linked stablecoins already account for roughly 90% of crypto transaction volume in Brazil, most of it used for payments and settlement.
The United States is imposing a 25% tariff on most Brazilian goods because it thinks Brazil's payment system, called Pix, is unfair to American companies. But even though the U.S. is trying to protect the dollar, many people in Brazil are using a different kind of money called stablecoins, which are linked to the dollar, to make payments.
Analysis
A $60B Vote of Confidence
The United States will impose a 25% Section 301 tariff on most Brazilian goods starting July 22, targeting what it calls unfair advantages created by Brazil’s state-run Pix instant-payment system. The move comes as the U.S. is trying to protect the dollar, but dollar-linked stablecoins already account for roughly 90% of crypto transaction volume in Brazil, most of it used for payments and settlement.
Pix has grown rapidly since its November 2020 launch, with more than 170 million individuals using the system, which processed nearly 7 billion transactions worth roughly R$3 trillion ($590 billion) in June. The system handled 42.9 billion transactions in the second half of 2025, compared with 23.8 billion across credit, debit, and prepaid cards, underscoring its massive scale of dominance in the country’s payments system.
The dispute comes as Washington grows increasingly concerned about efforts by Brazil and other BRICS countries to reduce reliance on dollar-based payment infrastructure. Brazil made local-currency settlement and international payment platforms a policy priority during its 2025 BRICS presidency, though officials said the bloc was not developing a common BRICS currency. Ironically, demand for the U.S. dollar in the country doesn’t appear to have subsided, as the U.S. dollar already circulates widely in Brazil’s digital economy via blockchain-based payment rails.
Why Cursor?
The U.S. will impose a 25% tariff on most Brazilian goods on July 22, its first tariff under a Section 301 strategy the Trump administration revived after the Supreme Court struck down its earlier import taxes. The case marks the first time Washington has used Section 301, the trade authority traditionally deployed against issues such as intellectual property theft, subsidies, and market access, to target a country’s domestic payment system.
The Road Ahead
The central bank has cast stablecoins as a threat to monetary sovereignty, tax enforcement, and anti-money laundering controls. Pix now faces pressure from both sides after Washington named it a trade barrier, while Brazilian regulators shield it from growing competition from dollar-backed stablecoins. Pix, however, may not be competing with stablecoins. “In practice, they are complementary,” Rodrigo Caggiano, founder of Brazilian real-world asset monitoring platform RWA Monitor, told CoinDesk. “Pix has addressed domestic instant payments well, while stablecoins expand what is possible by operating on blockchain networks.”
Key points
- The U.S. will impose a 25% tariff on most Brazilian goods starting July 22.
- The tariff is targeting what the U.S. calls unfair advantages created by Brazil’s state-run Pix instant-payment system.
- Dollar-linked stablecoins already account for roughly 90% of crypto transaction volume in Brazil.
- Pix has grown rapidly since its November 2020 launch, with more than 170 million individuals using the system.
- The system handled 42.9 billion transactions in the second half of 2025, compared with 23.8 billion across credit, debit, and prepaid cards.
If this development plays out positively, it could lead to a more level playing field for American companies in Brazil's payment system, and potentially even more use of stablecoins in Brazil, which could help to reduce the country's reliance on the dollar.
On the other hand, the U.S. tariff could lead to a trade war between the two countries, which could harm both economies and make it harder for American companies to do business in Brazil.
