The United States made good on its threats to apply 50 percent tariffs on Brazil two days ahead of schedule and slapped sanctions on the Supreme Court justice overseeing the criminal case of former President Jair Bolsonaro. The moves were a sharp escalation of the crisis between the Trump administration and Latin America’s largest nation.
The dual measures were a clear rebuke of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil, who has publicly defied President Trump for weeks, pledging not to yield to the American leader’s demands. Mr. Trump has called on Brazil to drop the charges against Mr. Bolsonaro, who is accused of orchestrating an attempted coup after losing the 2022 elections.
The justice, Alexandre de Moraes, will face sanctions, such as visa restrictions and asset freezes, under the Global Magnitsky Act, a measure that is usually meant to punish foreigners accused of serious human-rights violations or corruption.
“Moraes is responsible for an oppressive campaign of censorship, arbitrary detentions that violate human rights, and politicized prosecutions — including against former President Jair Bolsonaro,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a news release.
Justice Moraes is presiding over the criminal case against Mr. Bolsonaro.
Mr. Trump has called the case against Mr. Bolsonaro, an ally with a starkly similar political style, a “witch hunt” and this month threatened to impose 50 percent tariffs on Brazil starting on Aug. 1 if the country did not drop the charges against the former Brazilian president.
On Wednesday, Mr. Trump followed signed an executive order increasing the tariffs on Brazilian products to 50 percent and cited “unusual and extraordinary policies and actions harming U.S. companies, the free speech rights of U.S. persons, U.S. foreign policy and the U.S. economy.”
The rate is the highest levy applied to any country by Mr. Trump during his current term.
“The Order finds that the Government of Brazil’s politically motivated persecution, intimidation, harassment, censorship, and prosecution of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and thousands of his supporters are serious human rights abuses that have undermined the rule of law in Brazil,” the White House said in a statement.
The Trump administration has also accused Justice Moraes of censoring right-wing voices on the internet by ordering the removal of illegal content and accounts from social media platforms.
The sanctions represent a major escalation in the biggest diplomatic crisis between the Western Hemisphere’s two largest democracies in decades. It also highlights Mr. Trump’s willingness to use financial tools, such as sanctions and tariffs, to pressure countries and individuals into falling in line.
Mr. Lula has defied Mr. Trump, calling him an “emperor” and accusing him of infringing on his country’s sovereignty. In an interview with The New York Times a day before the sanctions were announced, Mr. Lula criticized attempts to “punish” Justice Moraes over Mr. Bolsonaro’s case.
“The Supreme Court of a country has to be respected not only by its own country, but it has to be respected by the world,” he said. “I will never question someone from America’s Supreme Court.”
The measures are a major win for Mr. Bolsonaro and his allies. For months, Eduardo Bolsonaro, the former president’s son, has been lobbying the White House to apply sanctions against Justice Moraes and other judges, arguing that Brazil’s Supreme Court is unfairly targeting his father and others in the country’s right-wing movement.
“Today is a historic day,” Eduardo Bolsonaro said in a statement, thanking Mr. Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio for the “courage” to apply sanctions against the justice. “I will be eternally grateful to them for this act.”
Mr. Rubio, who first floated the idea of sanctions against Justice Moraes in June, said the Brazilian judge had been targeted with economic penalties because he had committed “serious human rights abuses.”
“Let this be a warning to those who would trample on the fundamental rights of their countrymen — judicial robes cannot protect you,” he said in a social media post.
Jack Nicas contributed reporting.
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