President Donald Trump singled out Brazil for import taxes of 50% on Wednesday, July 9, for its treatment of its former president, Jair Bolsonaro, showing that personal grudges rather than simple economics are a driving force in the US leader's use of tariffs.
Trump avoided his standard form letter with Brazil, specifically tying his tariffs to the trial of Bolsonaro, who is charged with trying to overturn his 2022 election loss. Trump has described Bolsonaro as a friend and hosted the former Brazilian president at his Mar-a-Lago resort when both were in power in 2020.
In a letter addressed to President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Trump criticized the treatment of the former Brazilian president as an "international disgrace," adding that the trial "should not be taking place."
There is a sense of kinship as Trump was indicted in 2023 for his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 US presidential election.
Bolsonaro testified before the country’s Supreme Court in June over the alleged plot to remain in power after his 2022 election loss. Judges will hear from 26 other defendants in coming months. A decision could come as early as September, legal analysts say. Bolsonaro has already been ruled ineligible until 2030 by the country’s electoral authorities.
Brazil’s vice president, Geraldo Alckmin, said he sees "no reason" for the US to hike tariffs on the South American nation. "I think he has been misinformed," he said. "President Lula was jailed for almost two years. No one questioned the judiciary. No one questioned what the country had done. This is a matter for our judiciary branch."
Trump also objected to Brazil's Supreme Court fining of social media companies such as X, saying the temporary blocking last year amounted to "SECRET and UNLAWFUL Censorship Orders." Trump said he is launching an investigation as a result under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, which applies to companies with trade practices that are deemed unfair to US companies.
Unmentioned in the letter was that X is owned by Elon Musk, Trump's multibillionaire backer in the 2024 election whose time leading Trump's Department of Government Efficiency recently ended and led to a public feud over the US president's deficit-increasing budget plan. Trump also owns a social media company, Truth Social.
The Brazilian real dove more than 2% against the US dollar on Wednesday, after Trump threatened tariffs of 50% on Brazil's goods.
The tariffs starting August 1 would be a dramatic increase from the 10% rate that Trump levied on Brazil as part of his April 2 "Liberation Day" announcement. In addition to oil, Brazil sells orange juice, coffee, iron and steel to the US, among other products. The US ran a $6.8 billion trade surplus with Brazil last year, according to the Census Bureau.
Trump also sent letters Wednesday to the leaders of seven other nations. None of them − the Philippines, Brunei, Moldova, Algeria, Libya, Iraq and Sri Lanka − is a major industrial rival to the United States.