Under a pilot programme, users of the UnionPay app and of Chinese bank apps linked to its platform will be able to scan a merchant’s code in Brazil and pay directly from the account they use at home. Chinese state media have reported that access will later extend to other digital wallets within UnionPay’s global network. Neither UnionPay nor Brazil’s central bank has named a Brazilian partner for the pilot, and no start date has been set. Pix has not previously been connected directly to a foreign payment system.
Pix, launched by Brazil’s central bank in November 2020, has become the default method for moving money in the country. The system transfers funds between accounts within seconds, at any hour, at no cost to individual users. It now reaches approximately 15 million merchants, ranging from department stores to street vendors, and has pushed cash and cheques to the margins of the economy. Brazil’s central bank both regulates the country’s payment industry and operates Pix within it, a dual role that American card and payment companies have said puts them at a disadvantage.
US tariffs and the WTO dispute
The Office of the US Trade Representative closed a year-long investigation on 15 July 2025 and imposed a 25% tariff on Brazilian goods a week later, after finding that Brazilian policy favoured Pix over American card and payment companies. A separate US investigation covering 60 economies added a further 12.5% on Brazilian products from 24 July 2025. In around a quarter of affected product lines, the new duties stack on existing tariffs, taking the total to 50% and affecting steel, aluminium, machinery, footwear and wood products.
Brazil declined to change the system. A government statement issued the day of the announcement described 15 July as a regrettable milestone in relations with Washington and characterised Pix as public property and an international benchmark for digital infrastructure. Gabriel Galipolo, president of the Central Bank of Brazil, said the American case was ‘a pretext dressed up as a technical argument’, and noted that Brazil’s credit card market had grown by around 150% since Pix launched. Brazil filed a complaint with the World Trade Organisation on 27 July 2025, though the organisation’s Appellate Body has been unable to hear appeals since 2019.
