Trump Announces 50% Tariff on Brazilian Goods

US President Donald Trump has announced that products imported from Brazil will be subject to 50% tariffs starting in August. The application of the tariffs was announced in a letter published on Wednesday, July 9, on social media.

Addressed to the President of the Republic, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the message begins with a direct defense of Jair Bolsonaro and criticism of “the way Brazil has been treating the former president”, which he classified as an “international disgrace”.

Referring to the case against Bolsonaro in the Supreme Court (STF), Trump emphasizes: “This trial should not be happening. It is a witch hunt that must end IMMEDIATELY!”

It is worth noting that the US president has no authority over the decisions of the Brazilian judiciary.

In his letter to Lula, he states that the decision on tariffs is based on attacks on free elections and freedom of expression in Brazil.

“(As lately illustrated by the Brazilian Supreme Court, which has issued hundreds of SECRET and UNLAWFUL Censorship Orders to US Social Media platforms, threatening them with Millions of Dollars in Fines and Eviction from the Brazilian Social Media market),” Trump declares.

After the political justification, he adds that trade relations with Brazil are unfair to the United States. However, the trade balance between the two nations has been in surplus for the US for more than ten years.

The percentage announced by Trump for Brazilian products is the highest among those most recently defined by the US government. In the letter, the US president argues that the country should distance itself from its trade relationship with Brazil.

He goes so far as to say that the 50% rate “is far too low” to bring about a level playing field between the two nations. According to Trump, the US Trade Representative’s Office (USTR) will launch an investigation into Brazil under the US Trade Act.

The intention of this type of approach is to determine whether there has been any violation of trade agreements. If irregularities are found, the US may take action through the World Trade Organization (WTO).

In a threatening tone, Trump states that if Brazil decides to take similar measures in response to the new tariff, the US will raise the rate by another 50%. He ends the letter by saying that the decision may be modified upward or downward depending on Brazil’s relationship with the US.

“If you wish to open your heretofore closed Trading Markets to the United States, and eliminate your Tariff, and Non-Tariff, Policies and Trade Barriers, we will, perhaps, consider an adjustment to this letter,” he writes.

Reaction

After the letter was released, President Lula called an emergency meeting to discuss Brazil’s response to Trump. According to information released in the press, Vice President Geraldo Alckmin, also minister of Development, Industry, Trade, and Services, Fernando Haddad (Finance), Mauro Vieira (International Relations), and Rui Costa (Chief of Staff) are participating in the meeting.

On social media, Workers’ Party senator and leader of the Senate, Jaques Wagner called for respect for Brazil and criticized the measure, which he attributed to a “request from the Bolsonaro family”.

“At the request of the Bolsonaro family, Donald Trump has announced a 50% tax on all Brazilian products, in an authoritarian and unilateral manner. The US president is confusing who he is addressing. Brazil will not be anyone’s backyard. We are the ones who decide our own lives. Let this be clear: Brazil belongs to Brazilians, not to lackeys!” he posted.

This was first published in Portuguese at Brasil de Fato.

Courtesy: Peoples Dispatch