Ex-Tarifário Remains in Force After Lula's Re-election: Zero Duty on Attachments Depends on Parameter Matching

By: May Xie / General Sales Manager
Shanghai Yunzhiguangshu

Whatsapp: +86 18120664050
Lula won the October 25 runoff with 51.74% of the vote and begins his fourth term in January 2027. For Brazilian importers of excavator attachments, the election result does not change one thing: the Ex-Tarifário mechanism is still running. Whether buckets, crushing buckets and similar attachments can enter at zero duty depends on whether the product parameters match an existing exemption entry.

Data from the Brazilian Machinery Builders' Association (Abimaq) shows that from January to July 2026, Chinese machinery accounted for 36.2% of Brazil's imported machinery, up from 32.1% a year earlier. As Chinese host machines increase on Brazilian job sites, demand for matching attachments rises accordingly.

Take buckets under NCM 8431.41.00 as an example: the base duty is 12.6%. If the product falls within an Ex-Tarifário exemption entry, the import duty can drop to zero. In February 2026, Brazil's Foreign Trade Council (Camex) approved 1,059 temporary zero-duty treatments, 421 of which were capital goods, including machinery and parts.

Applications can only be filed by the Brazilian importer. Brazil's Ministry of Development, Industry, Trade and Services (MDIC) requires the technical description to be in Portuguese, unique, continuous and descriptive only, with no mention of brand or model, and must list the main technical and functional parameters. Brazilian customs applies a literal interpretation to exemption entries, so parameters such as carrier tonnage, hydraulic flow and operating pressure must correspond item by item.

In February 2026, GECEX Resolution No. 852 raised duties on some capital goods but retained the Ex-Tarifário channel for cases where there is no equivalent domestic production in Brazil. An incorrect NCM classification can lead to a significant difference in effective duty, making classification confirmation before ordering a necessary step.

Beyond duties, the welding quality, steel grade and fit-up of attachments cannot be judged from a catalogue. In 2025, a customer from northern Brazil, visited a Chinese attachment factory and inspected the production process and product assembly in the crushing bucket and long-reach boom workshops. The factory said the customer built trust in the product after the visit and subsequently entered into cooperation.

For Brazilian distributors currently evaluating suppliers, the workable steps are: send the carrier model, hydraulic flow and working condition to the supplier, ask them to confirm the configuration, NCM code and Ex-Tarifário applicability before ordering, and confirm whether they can provide the technical description required for the application and whether they accept factory inspection.

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Data sources: Lula's 51.74% vote share: Superior Electoral Court of Brazil, via China News Service, October 2026 Chinese machinery at 36.2% of Brazil's imported machinery: Abimaq, via Siderurgia Brasil, September 2026 Camex approves 1,059 Ex-Tarifário items (421 capital goods): Agência Brasil, February 2026 NCM 8431.41.00 base duty 12.6%: Brazilian tariff database Ex-Tarifário application requirements: MDIC website FAQ