Ballard

Ballard Partners has lined up the National Industry Confederation, which is the main representative of Brazil’s industrial sector, as a client for trade, tariff and Section 301 of the Trade Act matters.

The Confederation's mission is "to defend and represent the industry in the promotion of a favorable environment for business, competitiveness and sustainable development in Brazil."

The US Trade Representative in July announced a probe into whether Brazil’s policies on digital trade and electronic payment services hurt American social media companies.

President Trump also slapped a 50 percent tariff on most Brazilian imports because of its “witch-hunt” against his buddy and right-wing ex-president Jair Bolsonaro. He wants Bolsonaro’s supreme court trial squashed.

Brazil’s finance minister Fernando Haddad said on Aug. 18 that the country has reached an impasse with the US on resolving the tariff issue. “The US is trying to impose on Brazil a solution which is constitutionally impossible," he told an FT-CNBC conference in São Paulo.

Brian Ballard, who was a top Trump fundraiser, handles the DC push for Brazil.

He’s joined by partner Hunter Morgen, who served in the first Trump administration as a deputy to Peter Navarro and Stephen Miller on trade and immigration matters.