WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump said he planned to impose a steep 50% tariff on all imports from Brazil as he accused the South American country of carrying out a “witch hunt” in the prosecution of Brazil’s former president, Jair Bolsonaro, a Trump ally.
It marks the highest tariff rate Trump announced in a flurry of letters to more than 20 countries this week before a new Aug. 1 deadline, when he said the higher tariffs would go into effect.
Trump, in a July 9 letter to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, called the Brazilian President’s treatment of Bolsonaro “an international disgrace.” He said the higher U.S. tariffs on Brazilian goods are “due in part to Brazil’s insidious attacks on Free Elections and the Fundamental Free Speech Rights of Americans.” He accused Brazil’s Supreme Court of issuing hundreds of “SECRET and UNLAWFUL censorship orders” threatening American social media companies.
Trump also cited Brazil’s “very unfair trade relationship” with the United States, mirroring the criticism he has leveled at other nations.
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Bolsonaro, who served as Brazil’s president from 2019 to 2023, faces trial in his country on allegations he plotted a coup to stop Lula from taking office after winning Brazil’s 2022 election. Bolsonaro has denied the charges, labeling the case against him “political persecution.”
Trump, who was friendly with Bolsonaro when their presidential terms overlapped, faced his own criminal charges in the United States for trying to overturn the 2020 election. Those federal charges were dropped after Trump was elected to a second term in the White House in 2024.
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In April, the Trump administration imposed a 10% universal tariff on goods from most countries, including Brazil.
Significantly higher “reciprocal” tariffs that Trump tailored for each country were set to go into effect on July 9 after he paused the levies for 90 days in April. But the president this week extended the deadline to Aug. 1 as his administration struggled to secure trade deals with other nations.
Trump this week started issuing new tariff rates for countries that had previously ranged between 20% and 40% before Trump’s new high mark with Brazil.
“Please understand that the 50% number is far less than what is needed to have the Level Playing Field we must have with your Country. And it is necessary to have this to rectify the injustices of the current regime,” Trump wrote in the letter Lula.
He added that his administration wouldn’t impose the tariff on Brazilian imports if Brazilian companies decide to build or manufacture products in the United States.
Contributing: Reuters
Reach Joey Garrison on X @joeygarrison.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump pledges 50% tariff on Brazil, citing ‘witch hunt’ of Bolsonaro
