Brazil

Trump named Brazil as one of the beef sources on September 4, after declining to name countries in his initial August 21 announcement. Brazil was eligible to use the added quota because the proclamation allocated it to “other countries or areas” and excluded countries with their own country-specific quotas. A Texas A&M analysis of U.S. Customs and Border Protection quota data reported that 37,486 metric tons had entered under the first tranche by September 28, with that figure covering the quota as a whole. Separate Brazilian trade reporting said U.S. imports of fresh Brazilian beef reached a monthly record of 44,440 tonnes in September.

Trump announced on August 21, 2026, a plan for up to 300,000 metric tons of imported beef for ground-beef production over 90 days, with the stated aim of lowering prices and giving the U.S. cattle herd room to grow. He declined to name the countries; the White House expected an implementing order within two weeks. On August 26, Trump signed a proclamation. On September 4, he named Argentina and Brazil as sources.

J&F Investimentos entered a corporate leniency agreement with Brazil’s Federal Prosecution Office in June 2017. Pilgrim’s Pride’s 2024 filing says J&F agreed in June 2017 to an 8-billion-real fine and 2.3 billion reais for social projects over 25 years, subject to inflation adjustments. The filing says the total fine was later reduced to 3.5 billion reais and Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court suspended J&F’s obligation to make additional installment payments in December 2023 after J&F petitioned over alleged misconduct by enforcement authorities. The company filing says the agreement otherwise remained in effect.

Reuters reported that Federal Police arrested him in São Paulo on September 13, 2017, amid an investigation into suspected use of nonpublic information in market transactions before the public disclosure of J&F executives’ cooperation agreement. His lawyer called the detention unjust and said the Batistas had cooperated with authorities. In October 2023, Brazil’s Securities and Exchange Commission reported that its board voted to absolve Wesley of specified administrative allegations involving JBS share transactions and, in a separate case, currency-related transactions involving JBS, Seara and Eldorado. Those administrative decisions are distinct from the 2017 criminal investigation.

In February 2018, Brazil’s Superior Court of Justice ordered Wesley Batista released after nearly six months in detention, subject to restrictions, according to Bloomberg and Folha reporting.

In its October 31, 2023 decisions, Brazil’s securities regulator acquitted Wesley and Joesley Batista of specified administrative allegations involving market transactions. Some votes were divided. J&F received a 500,000-real fine for trading JBS shares during a restricted period. These were Brazilian securities proceedings; the U.S. bribery and accounting resolutions were issued separately in 2020.

Related Reports

Sources and Records

AI generated report by Explorvia.com.