By Timothy S. Donahue
Top Takeaways:
- Tariff impact: Brazil’s tobacco industry says additional U.S. tariffs are reducing the competitiveness of its leaf in the U.S. market.
- Exports decline: Shipments to the U.S. fell 31% in value during the first half of 2026, while container volumes declined 13.2% through May.
- Lower outlook: SindiTabaco now expects Brazil’s tobacco exports to return to historical levels after reaching a record in 2025.
Brazil’s tobacco industry says higher U.S. tariffs are reshaping the global leaf trade, reducing exports to one of its largest markets and clouding the sector’s outlook for 2026.
The Interstate Tobacco Industry Union (SindiTabaco) said that additional U.S. tariffs on Brazilian goods are making the country’s tobacco less competitive in the U.S. market, affecting commercial contracts, production planning and growers’ incomes.
“The additional tariffs directly affect the competitiveness of Brazilian tobacco in the U.S. market, with impacts on commercial contracts, industrial planning and producer income,” SindiTabaco President Valmor Thesing said.
The United States has historically accounted for about 9% of Brazil’s tobacco exports, making it a key export destination for the industry. According to figures cited by SindiTabaco from Brazil’s Ministry of Development, Industry, Trade and Services and the Secretariat of Foreign Trade (Secex), exports to the United States totaled $88.8 million in the first half of 2026, down 31% from the same period in 2025.
Full-year exports to the U.S. totaled $195.3 million in 2025, a 23.4% decrease from $255 million in 2024.
Shipping data also indicate slowing demand. According to Datamar, 1,426 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of tobacco were exported from Brazilian ports to the United States in the first five months of 2026, a 13.2% decline from the same period a year earlier.
Beyond tariffs, SindiTabaco said it is monitoring rising global tobacco inventories after Brazil’s record export performance in 2025, warning that increased supplies could intensify competition in international leaf markets. Against that backdrop, the association has lowered its expectations for the year.
“SindiTabaco expects exports to return to the average level of the past five years, at around $2.6 billion, significantly below the record of approximately $3.4 billion reached in 2025,” Thesing said.
Overall, Brazil exported 173,600 metric tons of tobacco in the first six months of 2026, a 15.9% decline from the same period a year earlier. Export revenue fell 21.4% to $1.07 billion. Despite the slowdown, the United States remained among Brazil’s top tobacco export destinations in the first half of the year, alongside Belgium, China, Indonesia, Vietnam and Turkey.
