Brazil GECEX Resolução nº 907/2026 — Definitive Anti-Dumping Duty on Milk Powder from Argentina and Uruguay (Suspended: Public Interest)

Mechanism

DECOM (Departamento de Defesa Comercial do MDIC) conducted a standard dumping and injury investigation following the December 2024 CNA petition. The investigation confirmed material injury and dumping margins for named Argentine and Uruguayan exporters. GECEX issued a definitive measure under Lei nº 9.019/1995 (Brazil's anti-dumping statute) and Decreto nº 8.058/2013, applying specific per-company USD/tonne duties:

Argentina — duty rates (USD per metric tonne):

Uruguay — duty rates (USD per metric tonne):

The duty structure is specific (USD/tonne), not ad valorem, and covers all commercial forms of whole and skimmed milk powder not fractionated under six NCM codes (0402.10.10, 0402.10.90, 0402.21.10, 0402.21.20, 0402.29.10, 0402.29.20).

Public-interest suspension: In the same Resolução, GECEX suspended the exigibility of the duties until a formal public-interest evaluation procedure is opened and concluded by Secex (Secretaria de Comércio Exterior). Until Secex publishes a decree formally opening the evaluation, the duty sits on the record but is legally unenforceable. This mechanism is legally distinct from a provisional-measure-lapse or a sunset-review suspension — it is a full definitive finding with a contemporaneous public-interest override.

Why severity 2

Dumping and injury are formally confirmed — the evidentiary record supports a strong affirmative determination. However, the duty generates zero immediate trade or revenue impact while suspended. Severity 2 reflects: (1) the confirmed legal finding establishes a standing instrument that can become enforceable rapidly if Secex publishes its decree; (2) the signal value to Argentina/Uruguay exporters and Mercosur relations is high even while the duty sleeps.

Mercosur dimension

Argentina and Uruguay are both Mercosur members. An anti-dumping action against fellow Mercosur partners is structurally distinct from Brazil's China-targeted AD wave — it signals intra-bloc agricultural-trade friction, with Brazilian dairy processors (CNA petitioners) asserting injury from Mercosur-internal flows. The public-interest suspension likely reflects CAMEX/Itamaraty concern about reciprocal retaliation risk and Mercosur rules on internal trade disciplines.

Downstream implications

• If Secex formally opens the public-interest evaluation, the duty becomes

potentially enforceable on conclusion — dairy traders must monitor the Secex decree timeline.

• Argentina and Uruguay together supply 86% of Brazil's powdered-milk imports;

enforcement would materially re-price the Mercosur dairy flow into Brazil.

• Residual rates ($4,183–$4,197/t) would effectively bar non-sampled exporters

from the Brazilian market if applied.

• The public-interest-suspension structure is rare in Brazilian trade-remedy

practice — useful precedent for the register.

Open questions

• When will Secex publish the decree formally opening the public-interest

evaluation, and what is the evaluation timeline?

• Will Mercosur DSU or political-level pressure cause the evaluation to conclude

in a finding against enforcement?

• Will the CNA petition a separate provisional measure before the evaluation concludes?