Trump Threatens 50% Tariffs on Brazilian Goods
President Donald Trump posted a letter to Brazil's president, telling him: "Due in part to Brazil's insidious attacks on Free Elections and the fundamental Free Speech Rights of Americans," Brazilian exports will face a 50% reciprocal tariff on Aug. 1.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
If your job depends on informed compliance, you need International Trade Today. Delivered every business day and available any time online, only International Trade Today helps you stay current on the increasingly complex international trade regulatory environment.
Trump said the trial of former President Jair Bolsonaro "is a Witch Hunt that should end IMMEDIATELY!"
Bolsonaro lost the last election, and is on trial for an attempted coup to retain power. He testified during the trial that he did not plan a coup, but said he did discuss deploying the military and suspending some civil liberties as "alternative ways" of remaining in office.
The language about free speech referred to a one-month ban on X, because the website refused to remove some far-right accounts, and didn't follow Brazilian law about having a resident legal representative. The courts also fined the company about $5 million.
Trump said he was directing the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to open a Section 301 investigation because of Brazil's "continued attacks on the Digital Trade Companies."
This letter is different from the other 21 letters, which talk only about non-reciprocal trade. However, the letter does include language on that issue. The letter says, "Please understand that these Tariffs are necessary to correct the many years of Brazil's Tariff and Non-Tariff Policies and Trade Barriers, causing these unsustainable Trade Deficits against the United States."
In April, Brazil, like all other countries that buy more American goods than they export to the U.S., was assigned a 10% duty. USTR says there was a $7.4 billion trade surplus with Brazil in 2024. USTR Jamieson Greer has testified that 10% tariffs are justified under the trade deficit emergency because those countries would be buying far more U.S. exports if not for their tariff and non-tariff barriers.