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Brazil, Mexico await Trump's tariff decision before

responding

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Brazil official denies report it could levy tariffs on

U.S. tech

firms in retaliation

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Mexico, Brazil target Chinese steel dumping with tariffs

MEXICO CITY/SAO PAULO, Feb 10 (Reuters) - Brazil and

Mexico, two top shippers of steel to the U.S., will wait to see

if U.S. President Donald Trump announces tariffs on steel and

aluminum imports before reacting, officials from both nations

said on Monday.

Trump is expected to introduce new 25% tariffs on Monday on all

steel and aluminum imports into the United States, on top of

existing metals duties, in another major escalation of his

shake-up of trade policy.

Nearly a quarter of all steel used in the U.S. is imported,

and Trump has vowed to revive domestic output after U.S. firms

have idled mills in recent years.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said in a press

conference on Monday that her administration was going to "wait

to see if anything is announced today, and from there we'll make

a decision."

Meanwhile, Brazil's finance minister, Fernando Haddad, said

that the South American nation's government would "only make

statements at the appropriate time and based on concrete

decisions, not on announcements that could be misinterpreted or

revised."

Haddad made the comments after a local newspaper reported that

Brazil could impose taxes on U.S. tech companies in retaliation

for steel tariffs. Haddad called the report "not correct."

In his first term, Trump imposed tariffs of 25% on steel and

10% on aluminum, though Brazil and Mexico were among the

countries later exempted from them. Some of the region's top

steel firms heavily serve the U.S. market.

Ternium ( TX ), which shipped a record 4.1 million metric

tons of steel in Mexico in the third quarter, counts U.S.

automakers building cars in the country among its top clients.

It is building a new plant in northern Mexico to meet steel

requirements under Mexico's trilateral trade agreement with the

U.S. and Canada.

New York-listed shares of Ternium ( TX ) were up 0.8% on Monday

afternoon. Shares of Ternium ( TX )-controlled Usiminas

climbed around 2% in Brazil trading, with only a small

percentage of its steel shipments heading abroad.

Brazilian steelmaker Gerdau ( GGB ) stands to benefit from

the tariffs, as it operates 11 production units in the U.S. and

Canada. Its shares jumped more than 4%.

'DUMPING' FROM CHINA

Steel industry leaders worldwide have in recent years

accused China of engaging in a practice known as "dumping," in

which it sells surplus steel abroad at below-market prices.

Both Brazil and Mexico in recent months have slapped Chinese

steel imports with double-digit tariffs in a bid to curb the

practice, though Brazilian steelmakers have called for even

higher taxes to be implemented.

Trump has accused Mexico of acting as a back door for

Chinese trade to the U.S. Officials in the administration of

President Joe Biden, Trump's predecessor, made similar

accusations regarding Mexico's steel shipments, arguing it was

possible they had originated in China.

Mexico's economy ministry last week rolled out a mechanism

to better track steel imports and exports as well as their

countries of origin.