President Donald Trump threatened to impose a 50 percent tariff on Brazilian products if the country doesn’t meet a series of political demands, including dropping the charges against his ally Jair Bolsonaro.
Nicknamed the “Trump of the Tropics,” the far-right former Brazilian president Bolsonaro followed Trump’s lead in late 2022 and refused to concede his election loss to current President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Bolsonaro is being prosecuted for allegedly running a spy ring and masterminding a coup d’état to try to remain in power.
“The way that Brazil has treated former President Bolsonaro, a Highly Respected Leader throughout the World during his term, including by the United States, is an international disgrace,” Trump wrote Wednesday in a letter addressed to Lula.
“This trial should not be taking place. It is a Witch Hunt that should end IMMEDIATELY!” he added.
The letter came two days after Trump—who has described Bolsonaro as a friend—wrote a Truth Social post demanding Brazil “LEAVE BOLSONARO ALONE!”
The former Army captain held office from 2019 to 2022 and has long expressed admiration for Trump. Earlier this year, he begged Brazilian officials to return his passport so he could attend Trump’s inauguration, the prospect of which was so exciting it cured him of his need to take Viagra, he said. That request was denied.
In his letter, Trump also referenced “censorship orders” against U.S. social media platforms and described the U.S. trade relationship with Brazil as “very unfair,” even though the U.S. enjoys a trade surplus with Brazil, according to the U.S. Trade Representative.
That means that, unlike the other countries Trump has targeted with his most extreme “Liberation Day” tariffs, the U.S. has exported more goods and services to Brazil than it imports from Brazil. The surplus has totaled $410 billion over the past 15 years, according to Brazil.
Trump nevertheless wrote: “These Tariffs are necessary to correct the many years of Brazil’s Tariff, and non-Tariff, Policies and Trade Barriers, causing the unsustainable Trade Deficits against the United States. This Deficit is a major threat to our economy and, indeed, our National Security!”
Lula responded to Trump’s letter with a post on X saying Brazil was a “sovereign nation with independent institutions,” and that the judicial branch would not be subject to “any interference or threats” that would undermine its independence.
“Any measure to increase tariffs unilaterally will be responded to in light of Brazil’s Law of Economic Reciprocity,” Lula added.
Top U.S. exports to Brazil last year included aircraft and spacecraft, fuel, industrial machinery, and electrical equipment—all industries that would be hurt by a reciprocal 50-percent tariff on American products, CNN reported.
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