Donald Trump has threatened to hit Brazil with tariffs of fifty per cent and accused it of attacking free speech, in a big escalation of tensions between the US and Latin America’s greatest economic system.
In a letter posted to Fact Social on Wednesday, Trump lashed out on the authorities of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva over the therapy of Brazil’s former rightwing president Jair Bolsonaro.
Trump mentioned Bolsonaro, who’s on trial over an alleged coup plot, was a “Extremely Revered Chief all through the world throughout his Time period”, branding the case a “Witch Hunt that ought to finish IMMEDIATELY!”
He added that the tariff, to be efficient from August 1, could be utilized “partially” due to Brazil’s “insidious assaults on Free Elections, and the elemental Free Speech Rights of Individuals”.
The US president additionally accused Brazil’s Supreme Courtroom of issuing “a whole bunch of SECRET and UNLAWFUL Censorship Orders” in opposition to US social media platforms.
Brazil’s forex dropped 2.3 per cent to R$5.58 in opposition to the US greenback whereas futures within the Bovespa share index have been down 1.4 per cent.
Lula signalled his nation was prepared to reply utilizing a regulation that permits Brasília to retaliate in opposition to commerce limitations imposed on its exports.
“Any unilateral tariff enhance shall be met beneath the Brazilian Financial Reciprocity Act,” the Brazilian president mentioned.
“Brazil is a sovereign nation with impartial establishments that won’t settle for anybody’s management,” he added.
The letter to Brazil was the eighth Trump posted on Wednesday and comes as a part of a broader barrage in opposition to 22 international locations in current days as he ratchets up strain on the US’s buying and selling companions to strike offers or face levies. He additionally confirmed that the 50 per cent tariff on copper would go into impact on August 1.
Earlier on Wednesday, Trump imposed tariffs of between 25 per cent and 30 per cent on Algeria, Brunei, Iraq, Libya, Moldova, the Philippines and Sri Lanka. The letters adopted threats of 25 per cent tariffs on Japan and South Korea, amongst others, on Monday.
Whereas different international locations obtained nearly an identical letters that referred to the “power and dedication” of the recipient’s buying and selling relationship with the US, the letter to Latin America’s most populous nation was markedly completely different in tone.
The 50 per cent tariff threatened can also be considerably increased than the ten per cent levy that was imposed on Brazil as a part of the sweeping April 2 “reciprocal” duties.
After Trump earlier mentioned he was going to announce a brand new import tax on Brazil, however earlier than he unveiled the 50 per cent price, Brazil’s vice-president and commerce minister Geraldo Alckmin described the brand new tariff as “unfair” and mentioned his nation didn’t pose an issue for the US.
“I see no motive to extend tariffs on Brazil,” he advised reporters in Brasília. “The US does have a commerce deficit, but it surely has a surplus with Brazil.”
The US registered a $7.4bn items commerce surplus with the nation in 2024, in line with the Workplace of the US Commerce Consultant.
Alckmin mentioned the brand new US tariff on Brazilian imports would hurt the American economic system and cited the instance of metal.
“We’re the third-largest purchaser of American steelmaking coal,” Alckmin mentioned. “We make the semi-finished product and promote it to the US, which finishes it. So, by imposing taxes, they enhance the price of their very own provide chain.”
Brasília known as for an emergency cupboard assembly, in line with native media experiences.
Trump’s blast in opposition to Lula’s leftwing administration has introduced the 2 largest democracies within the Americas nearer to diplomatic disaster.
The US president’s intervention in favour of Bolsonaro will cheer Brazil’s far-right motion, which claims a judicial crackdown in opposition to digital misinformation unfairly targets conservatives.
Prosecutors have charged Bolsonaro with planning an abortive putsch that allegedly aimed to maintain him in energy after shedding a re-election in 2022 to Lula. The hard-right populist denies any wrongdoing.
Lula mentioned the authorized proceedings involving Bolsonaro have been “the only jurisdiction of the Brazilian courts” and “not topic to any kind of interference”.
Bolsonaro’s congressman son Eduardo, who has lobbied the Trump administration about what he calls the erosion of political freedom in Brazil, mentioned the US president’s letter proved the success of his efforts.
“Lula plunged right into a sequence of anti-American diplomatic blunders — with indignant statements from himself, his ministers, and even the First Girl, coupled with deliberate alignment with authoritarian regimes like China and Iran,” Eduardo mentioned. “None of this could have occurred beneath President Jair Bolsonaro.”
US secretary of state Marco Rubio in Might mentioned Washington was considering sanctions in opposition to one among Brazil’s supreme court docket justices, Alexandre de Moraes, who has ordered social media accounts deemed to be spreading pretend information to be taken down.
The decide clashed with Elon Musk final yr over the billionaire’s X platform and briefly banned the web site in Brazil.
The nation’s Supreme Courtroom declined to remark.
