Economy / Envato Market
By Caroline Boda | The Center Square
(Worthy News) – The U.S. levied new tariffs on Brazil Wednesday, bringing the total tariff rate to 50% and bolstering the conflict between two of America’s largest economies.
Trump warned of economic retaliation against Brazil earlier this month due to what he dubbed a political “witch hunt” against his ally and former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro. In Wednesday’s executive order outlining the new tariff rate, the White House cited “politically motivated persecution” of Bolsonaro.
Brazil had been bracing for the 50% tariff to hit Friday, but Trump’s mandate upping the tariff rate came two days early.
In a letter sent earlier this month to Brazil’s current president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Trump threatened hefty tariffs against the country if legal action against its former president did not cease. Bolsonaro is a friend and political ally of Trump and is facing trial for allegedly organizing a coup after losing to Lula in Brazil’s 2022 presidential election.
Lula publicly rebuked Trump’s tariff plans and indicated that Brazil would not back down in the impending trade war.
“At no point will Brazil negotiate as if it were a small country up against a big country,” Lula told The New York Times Tuesday. “Brazil will negotiate as a sovereign country.”
The U.S. imposed sanctions Wednesday against Brazilian Supreme Federal Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, the chief judge on Bolsonaro’s case. When announcing the sanctions, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said de Moraes is leading an “oppressive campaign of censorship” against Bolsonaro and committing human rights violations.
The White House also announced a new 50% tariff rate on copper products Wednesday that is set to begin Aug. 1.
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