Global trade tensions show no signs of easing, but two Latin American nations may actually to stand to benefit. President Donald Trump on Thursday posted on Truth Social that the U.S. would impose reciprocal tariffs on goods from countries that have hit American products with levies. “THREE GREAT WEEKS, PERHAPS THE BEST EVER, BUT TODAY IS THE BIG ONE: RECIPROCAL TARIFFS,” he said in the social media post. He later scheduled a 1 p.m. ET news conference on the matter. Earlier this week, Trump approved tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports. That comes after signing an order to put an additional 10% duty on Chinese imports and a 25% levy on Canadian and Mexican products. The charges on Chinese goods were implemented, while those on products from Canada and Mexico were suspended for 30 days. Many politicians and economists have warned that a trade war could lead to economic pressure for everyone involved. But Bank of America thinks two countries could benefit from U.S. tariffs on imports from China, Canada and Mexico: Brazil and Argentina. “Similarly to the 2018-19 trade war, we believe farmers in Brazil and Argentina will benefit the most from U.S.-China/Mexico/Canada tariff hostilities,” BofA said in a Wednesday note. “China could increase soybean imports from South America, and this region is the best alternative origin for corn should Mexico and Canada decide to apply counter-tariffs to U.S. agriculture produce (we think it’s unlikely though).” “Consequently, we would expect a further expansion in planting area and production in Brazil, supporting strong growth of the agribusiness overall,” the bank said. Brazil’s stock market has outperformed the S & P 500 thus far in 2025, with the Bovespa index rising 3.3% versus the U.S. benchmark’s 2.9% advance. Argentina’s Merval Index has tumbled nearly 10% to start the year, but remains more than 43% higher over the past six months. For U.S. investors looking to gain exposure to these markets, two ETFs might help: the iShares MSCI Brazil ETF (EWZ) and the Global X MSCI Argentina ETF (ARGT) . EWZ charged 0.59% in fees and is up 12.6% year to date. ARGT, with the same expense ratio, is up 1.3% in 2025. EWZ ARGT YTD mountain EWZ and ARGT year to date Elsewhere Thursday morning on Wall Street, Baird initiated research coverage of turbine maker GE Vernova with an outperform rating, calling for more than 20% upside. “The rising demand for energy generation solutions gives the company pricing power for out years which we believe will translate to margin expansion and may provide upside to the long-term financial targets (which extend through 2028),” analyst Ben Kallo said in a note.
Argentina and Brazil to benefit from U.S. tariffs? Bank of America thinks so
