Why BYD is shipping thousands of EVs to Brazil: summary

What we know:

• BYD shipped over 7,300 EVs to Brazil in May 2025, making its largest single shipment to the country. The delivery is part of a wider export campaign as BYD looks to expand globally after overtaking Tesla as the world’s top EV seller.

• Brazil's progressive EV import tax began at 10% in January 2024, is now 18%, and will reach 35% by July 2026.
• The tariffs have triggered a surge in EV purchases as consumers rush to buy before prices rise, making BYD’s sales in Brazil rise to 327% between 2023 and 2024, driven by the previously tax-free environment.
• Brazilian authorities have sued BYD for $45.3 million after discovering "slavery-like" labour conditions at the plant site.
• Brazil is the largest EV market in Latin America, with over 237,000 EVs sold by the end of 2024. EV sales in Brazil rose to 187% year-over-year in 2024, far outpacing growth in locally manufactured vehicles.
• The government hopes tariffs will spur domestic EV production and build a national supply chain for electromobility.

What they said

"It takes away from automakers and their Brazilian workers all the potential they otherwise would have," said Anfavea president, Igor Calvet, who also warned BYD to begin local production without further delays. "The main objective of the tariffs is to stimulate local production, promoting a gradual nationalisation of the country’s own supply chain for electromobility,” said Edgar Barassa, a researcher of electromobility and public policy at the University of Campinas in São Paulo.