Washington – The Computer & Communications Industry Association called for progress in resolving outstanding barriers to digital trade in Brazil, ahead of President Lula’s visit to Washington, DC, to meet President Trump. While Brazil remains a key market for the digital economy, accounting for around US$12 billion in digitally delivered services exports in 2023, numerous enacted and proposed barriers to digital trade sharply curb its potential, for both Brazilian and U.S. suppliers and consumers. In addition to existing barriers, such as excessive taxes on ICT inputs critical to data center investment and the recent rollback of intermediary liability protections for ISPs, a growing set of proposals raises particular concern, including discriminatory platform obligations, unbalanced AI regulations, and network usage fees.
CCIA urges the removal of these barriers and the adoption of policies that ensure an open, transparent, and non-discriminatory environment for digital trade and investment. The association has engaged extensively with U.S. and Brazilian policymakers on these issues, including raising concerns about the expedited legislative procedure to pass competition legislation and adopt a digital regulatory framework (PL nº 4675/2025), comments in response to the Ministry of Finance’s 2024 public consultation on digital platforms, a whitepaper highlighting tax-related barriers to data center investment, comments submitted to USTR’s Section 301 investigation on Brazil, comments on a proposed discriminatory video streaming law, comments on Brazil’s proposed data center regulations, and comments addressing Brazil’s proposed network usage fees. CCIA remains committed to continued dialogue with governments and stakeholders to advance fair, predictable policies that support digital trade and innovation, and has also provided input on proactive approaches to strengthening U.S.-Brazil digital trade, including through comments on the U.S.-Brazil Commercial Dialogue and Brazil’s national data center strategy.
The following quote can be attributed to Jonathan McHale, CCIA Vice President of Digital Trade:
“Many digital trade barriers in Brazil will take time to solve, and meetings this week must bring urgency to that end. But one that is ripe for resolution is the sky-high tax and tariff regime for ICT equipment, thwarting Brazil’s digital ambitions, including in AI; this is an “own goal” policy that hurts both nations that can and should be fixed promptly.”
