U.S. President Donald Trump solutions questions throughout a multilateral lunch with African leaders within the State Eating Room of the White Home July 9, 2025 in Washington, DC.
Win McNamee | Getty Photos
President Donald Trump mentioned Wednesday the U.S. will slap a 50% tariff on Brazil’s imports beginning Aug. 1, partly in retaliation for the continuing prosecution of the nation’s former president, Jair Bolsonaro.
Trump mentioned in a letter that the brand new tariff — an enormous soar from the ten% price the U.S. imposed on Brazil in early April — can also be being imposed in response to the “very unfair commerce relationship” between the 2 international locations.
The letter to Brazil’s present president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, adopted almost two dozen others that Trump has just lately despatched to different world leaders, dictating steep new tariff charges on the products they promote to the U.S.
However the letter to Lula goes additional than the remainder, by imposing a brand new U.S. import tax price explicitly as a punishment for a rustic partaking in inside political and authorized affairs that Trump dislikes.
The worth of Brazil’s foreign money, the truefell greater than 2% towards the U.S. greenback following Trump’s announcement.
Trump has beforehand sounded off on Brazil over its remedy of Bolsonaro, a vocal ally of the U.S. president who’s standing trial over his function in an alleged coup to overturn his 2022 reelection loss.
Trump known as the state of affairs “a world shame” within the letter, which he shared publicly in a Fact Social submit.
He additionally railed towards “Brazil’s insidious assaults on Free Elections, and the basic Free Speech Rights of Individuals,” apparently referring to the Brazilian Supreme Courtroom’s latest ruling that might maintain social media platforms liable for his or her customers’ content material.
Trump additionally claimed that Brazil’s commerce insurance policies have induced “unsustainable Commerce Deficits towards america,” which threaten the U.S. economic system and nationwide safety.
However the U.S. has a items commerce surplus with Brazil, which totaled $7.4 billion in 2024, based on the Workplace of the U.S. Commerce Consultant.
The U.S. can also be launching an investigation into potential unfair commerce practices by Brazil, Trump wrote within the letter.
He mentioned that probe relies on “Brazil’s continued assaults on the Digital Commerce actions of American Firms.”
“Please perceive that the 50% quantity is way lower than what is required to have the Degree Enjoying Subject we should have along with your Nation,” Trump wrote. “And it’s essential to have this to rectify the grave injustices of the present regime.”
Parts of the letter to Lula match the verbiage of the 21 tariff letters that Trump has despatched to different world leaders since Monday.
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