U.S. President Donald Trump answers questions during a multilateral luncheon with African leaders successful the State Dining Room of the White House July 9, 2025 successful Washington, DC.
Win McNamee | Getty Images
President Donald Trump said Wednesday the U.S. volition slap a 50% tariff connected Brazil's imports starting Aug. 1, partially successful retaliation for the ongoing prosecution of the country's erstwhile president, Jair Bolsonaro.
Trump said successful a letter that the caller tariff — a monolithic leap from the 10% rate the U.S. imposed connected Brazil successful aboriginal April — is besides being imposed successful effect to the "very unfair commercialized relationship" betwixt the 2 countries.
The missive to Brazil's existent president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, followed astir 2 twelve others that Trump has precocious sent to different satellite leaders, dictating steep caller tariff rates connected the goods they merchantability to the U.S.
But the missive to Lula goes further than the rest, by imposing a caller U.S. import taxation complaint explicitly arsenic a punishment for a state engaging successful interior governmental and ineligible affairs that Trump dislikes.
The worth of Brazil's currency, the real, fell much than 2% against the U.S. dollar pursuing Trump's announcement.
Trump has antecedently sounded disconnected connected Brazil implicit its attraction of Bolsonaro, a vocal state of the U.S. president who is standing trial implicit his relation successful an alleged coup to overturn his 2022 reelection loss.
Trump called the concern "an planetary disgrace" successful the letter, which helium shared publically successful a Truth Social post.
He besides railed against "Brazil's insidious attacks connected Free Elections, and the cardinal Free Speech Rights of Americans," seemingly referring to the Brazilian Supreme Court's caller ruling that could clasp societal media platforms liable for their users' content.
Trump besides claimed that Brazil's commercialized policies person caused "unsustainable Trade Deficits against the United States," which endanger the U.S. system and nationalist security.
But the U.S. has a goods commercialized surplus with Brazil, which totaled $7.4 cardinal successful 2024, according to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.
The U.S. is besides launching an probe into imaginable unfair commercialized practices by Brazil, Trump wrote successful the letter.
He said that probe is based connected "Brazil's continued attacks connected the Digital Trade activities of American Companies."
"Please recognize that the 50% fig is acold little than what is needed to person the Level Playing Field we indispensable person with your Country," Trump wrote. "And it is indispensable to person this to rectify the sedate injustices of the existent regime."
Portions of the missive to Lula lucifer the verbiage of the 21 tariff letters that Trump has sent to different satellite leaders since Monday.
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