Can I bring it home from Brazil?
The export rule at the Brazil end and the import rule at the US end, by what the object is — because they are two different questions and an object can clear one and fail the other.
The statutes and notices cited on this page were last read on 3 September 2026. We re-check past 21 days.
Work by a living artist
No permit requiredBrazil uses a negative list, not a permit regime. Only work produced up to 1889, individually listed objects and archaeological material are restricted. Contemporary work is free to leave. A free optional clearance exists if you want paperwork — up to 15 days, and not required.
Ceremonial or ritual objects
Depends entirely on whether it has been listedBrazil has no ceremonial-use catch-all of the kind Ghana and Nigeria have. What matters is whether the specific object has been individually listed as protected. Ask, in writing, whether the object is tombado — and read the warning below, because buying a listed object without the state being offered it first voids the sale.
Older and antique work
1889 is the line, not the artist's deathThe rule collectors repeat — that you cannot export work by a dead Brazilian artist — is not in the statute. The restriction covers work produced up to the end of the monarchy in 1889. A twentieth-century modernist is not caught by it unless that specific object has been individually listed.
Craft, textiles and decorative objects
Easy to export, dutiable on entryCraft and decorative objects are generally outside Brazil's heritage restrictions. But they fall outside Chapter 97 on the US side, so they are not duty-free. Wooden objects also raise a species question under the Lacey Act.
Where the work is
This rule governs Salvador on this site.
The duty question
Since 24 July 2026 goods from Brazil carry an additional 12.5% dutyA Section 301 action against 60 economies over forced-labour enforcement took effect on 24 July 2026, and Brazil is in the 12.5% group. An original painting, print or sculpture escapes it under the informational-materials subheading 9903.05.92, which names artworks. Craft, textiles and decorative objects do not, and pay the 12.5% on top of their ordinary rate. Read 15 September 2026 — 91 FR 47318, CBP CSMS #69326983.
Whether you pay duty is a separate question from whether you may export, and it turns on a tariff classification rather than on the artist. What Chapter 97 covers, and what it does not.
Sources
Every statement above cites the regulation itself rather than a summary of it. All of them were read on 3 September 2026; a .gov page can be live and still be wrong, which is why the date is here.
- hts.usitc.gov/reststop/file?release=currentRelease&filename=Chapter%2097
- ecfr.gov/current/title-19/section-10.48
- ecfr.gov/current/title-19/section-143.21
- uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title17-section202&num=0&edition=pr
- aphis.usda.gov/news/program-update/aphis-will-implement-lacey-act-phase-vii-requirements-dec-1
- govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2026-01-26/html/2026-01397.htm
- govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2026-01-26/html/2026-01396.htm
- govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2026-06-04/html/2026-11197.htm
- federalregister.gov/documents/2022/03/17/2022-05681/import-restrictions-imposed-on-categories-of
- ecfr.gov/current/title-19/section-12.104g
- federalregister.gov/documents/2025/04/07/2025-06063/regulating-imports-with-a-reciprocal-tariff-
- govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2023-title50/html/USCODE-2023-title50-chap35-sec1702.htm
- ecfr.gov/current/title-19/section-148.33