The new rules for the Brazil Sovereign Plan (Plano Brasil Soberano) took effect this Monday (Jun. 8). As a result, more companies will be able to apply for credit lines under the program. The Brazilian government reduced the minimum required revenue impact from 5 percent to 1 percent. The changes were announced last week.

With this measure, exporting companies and suppliers affected by US tariffs or by the economic impacts of conflicts in the Middle East will be able to access financing even if they experience smaller revenue losses.

Who is eligible

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The expansion applies to companies in Groups 1 and 3 of the Brazil Sovereign Plan:

• Exporters of industrial goods and suppliers affected by tariffs imposed by the United States (Group 1);
• Exporters of industrial goods and suppliers with operations in Middle Eastern countries affected by conflicts in the region (Group 3).

To access the credit, companies in these groups must demonstrate that exports accounted for at least 1 percent of their gross revenue during the reference period. Previously, the threshold was 5 percent.

For Group 1, revenue losses must be compared with the 12-month period from July 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025. For Group 3, revenue losses must be compared with the 12-month period from January 1, 2025, to December 31, 2025.

Group 1 includes the following sectors:

• Steel
• Copper
• Aluminum
• Automotive
• Furniture

The ordinance does not change the rules for the program’s third group, which consists of sectors considered strategic to the Brazilian economy.

These sectors include:

• Textiles
• Chemicals
• Pharmaceuticals
• Automotive
• Machinery and equipment
• Electronics and information technology (IT)
• Rubber and plastics
• Transportation equipment
• Critical minerals

Available lines

The Brazil Sovereign Plan offers financing for:

• Working capital
• Export production
• The acquisition of machinery and equipment
• The expansion of production capacity
• Technological innovation
• The adaptation of products, services, and processes

Data released by the Ministry of Labor and Employment indicate that 85,888 formal jobs were created in April. The figure reflects the difference between hiring and layoffs.

The total is 62.3 percent lower than in March, when the country created 227,974 jobs.

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Job creation fell 63.9 percent compared with April last year, pressured by high interest rates and the economic slowdown. In the same month of 2025, 238,216 jobs were generated.

Among the months of April since 2020, this was the second-lowest result in the series, surpassed only by April 2020, when 981,342 jobs were lost at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Changes in methodology prevent comparisons with years prior to 2020.

Sectors

By division by sector of activity, three of the five sectors surveyed created formal jobs in April.
• Services: +69,601 jobs
• Construction: +23,525 jobs
• Industry (manufacturing, extraction, and other activities): +9,256 jobs

Two sectors shed more jobs than they generated in April: agriculture, with a loss of 8,378 jobs, and commerce, with 8,114 fewer jobs.

Traditionally, April is a weak month for commerce. In agriculture, the layoffs are due to the end of the soybean harvest and the demobilization of apple and orange crops.

Formal contract

With the creation of new jobs, the number of workers with formal contracts ended April at 47,810,425, an increase of 0.18 percent compared with March and 2.26 percent compared with the same month last year.

Brazilian exports of high-tech products grew 7.7 percent in 2025, but remain well below sales of low-tech goods, as per a survey released Tuesday (May 26) by the National Confederation of Industry (CNI).

High-tech products totaled USD 9.1 billion last year and accounted for just 2.7 percent of the country’s total exports. In contrast, low-tech products reached USD 130.7 billion, 37.5 percent of Brazil’s foreign sales.

The study was based on data from the Center for Foreign Trade Studies Foundation and indicates that high-tech exports remain 15 times lower than those of low-tech products.

Challenge

In a statement, CNI’s Trade and International Integration Manager Constanza Negri noted that this represents a challenge to the competitiveness of Brazilian industry.

“High-quality economic growth depends on progress in medium-to-high and high-tech sectors,” she stated.

Expanding the share of these sectors, Negri argued, is essential to diversify Brazil’s export portfolio and strengthen the international presence of domestic industry.

Manufacturing industry

The US remained the main destination for Brazilian manufacturing exports, despite a 4.2 percent decline in sales. Sales to the US market totaled BRL 30.2 billion.

China increased its purchases of Brazilian industrial products by 19.4 percent, totaling USD 22 billion in 2025. The food sector was primarily responsible for the growth in exports to the Asian country.

In terms of imports, China remained the leading supplier of industrial goods to Brazil, with sales of USD 70.6 billion.

Argentina

Brazilian exports to Argentina added up to USD 18.1 billion in 2025, up a 31.4 percent over the previous year.

This performance was driven by the auto sector, which recorded a 57.2 percent surge in sales to the Argentine market. Passenger vehicles, trucks, and auto parts led exports to the neighboring country.