RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil’s state oil company Petrobras is considering shifting some of its oil exports away from the United States and towards Asia and Pacific markets, following the U.S. government’s decision to impose higher tariffs on Brazilian imports, CEO Magda Chambriard told Reuters on Thursday.
While oil and gas make up a large portion of Brazil’s exports to the U.S., Chambriard said the American market is not critical to Petrobras. “We don’t export that much to the U.S. Overall, we’re not too concerned,” she said, addressing the 50% tariff announced last week by U.S. President Donald Trump—her first public comments on the matter.
In the first quarter of 2025, U.S. exports made up only 4% of Petrobras’ total oil shipments. Analysts say that if Brazil stops sending oil to the U.S., the impact on both sides would likely be minimal. According to consultancy StoneX, Brazil supplied less than 3% of U.S. oil consumption so far this year.
There is still some uncertainty over whether the new tariffs—set to take effect August 1—will apply to crude oil, which had previously been excluded from Trump’s 10% tariff hikes. In terms of refined oil products, 37% of Petrobras’ exports—roughly 209,000 barrels per day—went to the U.S. in the first quarter, though analysts believe that volume could be redirected to other markets without significant disruption.
