The Latin American Report # 569
I was unaware that Brazil-based Taurus is the world’s largest manufacturer of revolvers, and one of the largest producers of pistols. A report from the company sent to the market this Tuesday, and covered by EFE, indicates that net profit for the first half of this year was about $10 million—five times higher than in the same period in 2024—, with a profit of around $6 million. The company, which produced approximately 438,000 weapons during the referred period and posted gross revenues of roughly $140 million, has felt the impact of the financial tsunami generated by the Trump administration, which it associates with “a global political and economic scenario marked by uncertainties and volatility.” More than four-fifths of the sales of the 7,000 weapons it produces each day at home take place in the U.S. market.
“On July 1 we implemented an average 7% price increase in the United States to offset the 10% import tariff established in April, but on July 9 we were surprised by the unexpected announcement of a 50% tariff, the repercussions of which for the Brazilian economy are still uncertain,” said a top official. In April, the company had announced it expected its U.S. facilities—where it produces about 3,000 weapons a day—to help minimize the impact of tariffs. The plan is now clearer, following yesterday’s announcement that it will begin transferring production of its flagship G-series firearms to the United States, aiming to reduce taxes by shifting from exporting fully assembled weapons to exporting components. Starting in September, about 900 firearms of that model are expected to be produced daily in Miami, representing roughly 43% of the current production volume in Brazil.
Taurus also plans to acquire Turkish company Mertsav before the year’s end. The latter manufactures automatic machine pistols, light machine guns, infantry rifles, under-barrel grenade launchers, multi-shot grenade launchers, and other armaments at three facilities located in Istanbul and Kırıkkale. If it definitively becomes part of the Taurus empire, this could be “the only company in the world to offer a diverse portfolio, from the .22 caliber to the .50,” according to early statements.
The company, specifically based in São Leopoldo in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, has been embroiled in controversy in recent years. For example, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime reported earlier this year that Taurus handguns—alongside those produced by Glock, Beretta, and Smith & Wesson—are prevalent in Haiti’s complex violence landscape. In 2016, two former senior executives were charged with selling 8,000 handguns to a Yemeni trafficker who used them to fuel the civil war in his country.
SourceRegional news briefs
The defense of the former Peruvian president said he experienced chills, tremors, and difficulties that prevented him from attending the hearing for the presentation of his final arguments in the so-called Ecoteva trial, in which he is accused of having received $35 million in bribes from the Brazilian company Odebrecht to favor it in the awarding of several sections of the Interoceanic Highway. Prosecutors are seeking a 16-year sentence for Toledo, who has not acknowledged guilt.
In a daily reminder that Colombia’s conflict is far from over, the Colombian Army reported the deaths of three soldiers in an explosive drone attack attributed to one of the guerrilla factions that rejected the 2016 peace agreement between the FARC-EP and the House of Nariño, signed in Havana during Juan Manuel Santos’s administration. The group in question is the “Jaime Martínez” front, part of the so-called Central General Staff, which is recognized as the largest dissident faction of the now-defunct FARC. The attack took place at a river checkpoint on the banks of the Naya River in the violent department of Valle del Cauca. It comes just hours after the death of Senator Miguel Uribe, following two months of fighting for his life as a result of an armed attack that proved fatal.
U.S. Ambassador to Mexico City Ronald Johnson congratulated the government of President Claudia Sheinbaum for its "cooperation" in transferring high-profile fugitives to the United States, following a new extradition yesterday, this time of 26 people. “We are deeply grateful to President Sheinbaum and her administration for showing determination in the face of organized crime,” Johnson said. This is part of actions being planned and executed from Mexico City’s Plaza del Zócalo to strengthen the country’s position ahead of more negotiations over tariffs with Washington.
Posted Using INLEO