Brazil-US dispute over Pix payment system escalates as Trump administration slaps 25% tariffs

By: Marcela Ayres Source: Reuters — Brasilia

Overview

Brazil's Pix, one of the world's most successful instant-payment systems, has become a flashpoint between Brasília and Washington as the Trump administration moves to protect U.S. firms from the model's growing appeal in dozens of countries.

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer cited Pix—operated by Brazil's central bank—as one of the trade barriers justifying fresh 25% tariffs on imports from Brazil, which took effect this week.

U.S. Position

"We're not asking Brazil to get rid of Pix," a senior Trump administration official said. However, Washington is pushing to avoid a situation in which "Pix gets special treatment simply because it's owned and operated by the government," the official added.

USTR documents state that Brazil's practices "may undermine the competitiveness of U.S. companies engaged in digital trade and electronic payment services."

Brazil's Response

Brazilian officials have long argued that the criticism is aimed at protecting U.S. credit card companies.

At a news conference last week, central bank chief Gabriel Galipolo dismissed complaints about Pix's impact on card revenues and market access as "absurd." He noted:

• The number of people using credit cards had increased in absolute terms because Pix drove millions of Brazilians to open bank accounts.
• Pix is a public service, not a competitor.
• "It would be kind of like saying that creating basic sanitation hurt the revenues of those who own water trucks," Galipolo said.

Pix's Growth and Impact

Launched by the central bank in 2020, Pix quickly became the dominant payment method in Latin America's largest economy, overtaking card transactions by its third year of operation.

| Metric | Data | |---|---| | Share of all transactions in Brazil by volume | More than 50% | | Number of users | Approximately 170 million | | Share of Brazil's population | 80% |

Pix enables real-time transfers between accounts through banking apps, combining free person-to-person payments with significantly lower costs and faster transactions for businesses—bypassing much of the traditional card-payments chain.

International Interest

Through the first half of 2026, Brazil's central bank signed agreements to share information about Pix with 65 international counterparts, including:

• Advanced economies: Germany, Canada
• Emerging markets: South Africa, Turkey

"Pix is really a model and the direction everyone is moving toward," said Galipolo.

While similar services exist in several countries—including India's UPI and FedNow in the United States—none has matched the explosive uptake of Pix.

Industry Reactions

U.S. Payment Companies

Mastercard and Visa have both warned investors in securities filings that networks such as Pix could challenge their business.

The Information Technology Industry Council (ITI), a Washington-based trade group representing Visa, Mastercard, Meta, and other tech companies, has urged USTR for several years to level the playing field for its members in Brazil. ITI argues that:

• Pix should be subject to a more competitively neutral regulatory framework.
• International payment firms should enjoy equal treatment and access under Brazil's payment-system rules.

Visa, Mastercard, and ITI did not respond to requests for comment.

Brazilian Industry Group

Abec, an industry group representing payment companies in Brazil, stated that the existence of multiple payment schemes and models—including the credit and debit card ecosystem and Pix—is "highly beneficial for consumers and society."

Unanswered Questions

It remains unclear why the Trump administration decided to take action at this time. Card transaction volumes have continued to rise in absolute terms after Pix helped bring more Brazilians into the formal banking system.