President Trump whacked Brazil on Wednesday with a 50% tariff on goods its producers send into the U.S., linking the levy in part to the prosecution of former Brazilian president and Trump ally Jair Bolsonaro.
Mr. Trump unloaded on Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in a letter assigning the hefty tariff, which exceeds the duties he assigned to more than 20 other countries this week.
“The way that Brazil has treated former President Bolsonaro, a Highly Respected Leader throughout the World during his term, including by the United States, is an international disgrace. This trial should not be taking place,” Mr. Trump wrote to the current president.
He also accused Brazil of censoring content on U.S. social media companies.
The letter was unusual because it departed from the template language that Mr. Trump had used in his tariff letters to other countries.
It also suggested Mr. Trump would use tariffs as leverage to resolve his individual grievances with how a country behaves on non-economic matters.
For the most part, Mr. Trump is assigning tariff amounts based on the trade deficit the U.S. has with each country, meaning situations in which a country sells plenty of products to the U.S. market but doesn’t buy nearly as much from American producers.
Mr. Lula, who is hosting BRICS-member nations in Rio de Janeiro, shot back, telling reporters, “I think it’s very wrong and very irresponsible for a president to be threatening others on social media.”
“He needs to know that the world has changed. We don’t want an emperor,” Mr. Lula said.
Mr. Trump has complained for days about Mr. Bolsonaro’s treatment. The pair are friends, with some observers dubbing Mr. Bolsonaro the “Trump of the tropics.” Mr. Bolsonaro faces charges that he plotted to overturn his election loss in 2022.
Mr. Trump is also upset with the multi-national BRICS organization that is huddling in Brazil.
The U.S. president says BRICS was designed to push back on U.S. dominance in finance and that countries participating in it will see a 10% surcharge in their tariff rates.
The BRICS bloc consists of Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia, Indonesia and Iran.
