BRASILIA, July 29 (Reuters) - Brazil's government has

asked the U.S. to exclude food products and Embraer's ( ERJ )

aircraft from the 50% tariff it plans to impose on Brazilian

goods starting August 1, a source familiar with the matter told

Reuters on Tuesday.

The request was the main topic of recent discussions between

Brazilian and U.S. officials, the source said, including three

calls between Brazil's Vice President and Trade Minister Geraldo

Alckmin and U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick in recent

days.

Newspaper Folha de S.Paulo first reported the request on

Monday.

The press office of Brazil's Development and Trade Ministry,

which is headed by Alckmin, denied the report, saying the

government is working to suspend the tariffs across all sectors.

But a Brazilian official, speaking on condition of anonymity

to discuss the sensitive topic, acknowledged that the government

had some priorities that it could not make public because of a

confidentiality clause in the negotiations.

It also wants to avoid the perception that it is trading off

some sectors for others, the source said. But the same person

added that some sectors needed to be prioritized in the talks

due to the severity of the impact in certain areas.

Embraer ( ERJ ), the world's No. 3 planemaker after Airbus

and Boeing ( BA ), is currently the government's top concern,

with dozens of pending deliveries to U.S. airlines. It has said

a 50% tariff could trigger order cancellations, deferred

deliveries and job cuts, hammering its revenue like the pandemic

did.

Ports and Airports Minister Silvio Costa Filho said the

government would do "everything within its power to help

Embraer ( ERJ )," hinting at potentially providing the planemaker with

credit lines.

In addition to aircraft, the U.S. is also a large buyer of

Brazilian food products, such as coffee and orange juice.

Trump's tariff plans could devastate Brazil's citrus belt,

where factories are already scaling back production and orange

farmers are considering leaving fruit to rot due to low prices.

Tariffs could also effectively halt the flow of Brazilian coffee

to the U.S.