US President Donald Trump said that he was planning to impose 50% tax on goods made in Brazil, increasing his fight with the South American country.
He announced the plan in his latest tariff letter, which was shared on social media.
In this, Trump accused Brazil of “attacks” on American tech companies and organized a “witch hunting” against former far-flung President Jair Bolsonro, who is facing prosecution on his alleged role in a conspiracy to end the 2022 election.
Responding to the social media post, Brazilian President Luiz Eneasio Lula Da Silva said that the increase in tariffs on Brazil would be obtained mutually obtained, and he warned against any interference in the country’s judicial system.
Trump also attacked Lula about Bolsoro’s trial earlier this week.
At that time, Lula said that Brazil would not accept “intervention” from anyone and said: “No one is above the law.”
Trump has posted 22 letters in countries around the world this week, including business partners such as Japan, South Korea and Sri Lanka, outlining the new tariffs on their goods, which will be applicable on August 1.
The move has largely worked to revive the plans laid forward in April, but it was stopped after the financial markets rejuvenated measures.
But the message to Brazil was a more targeted missile and the White House earlier threatened a significant increase with 10% tariffs announced on goods from the country.
Unlike several other countries, the US enjoyed a trade surplus with Brazil last year, selling more goods in the country.
In the letter, Trump called the 50% rate “required … to improve the serious injustice of the current regime”.
He said that he would order the US trade representative to start the so -called 301 investigation in Brazil’s digital business practices.
Such a step will lead to a turn to a more established legal process, which the US has used to put tariffs in the past, making the danger strict. In his first term, Trump took a similar step on the idea of ​​Brazil’s tax targeting tech firms.
In the letter, Trump accused the Brazilian government of “insidious attacks on free elections, including the censorship of” US social media platforms “, and the original free speech rights of Americans”.
Trump’s social media company, Trump Media, is one of the American technology companies fighting the Brazilian court verdict on orders to suspend social media accounts.
The country also temporarily banned Elon Musk’s X, which was previously known as Twitter, the stage refused to ban accounts understood by Brazil to spread misinformation about the 2022 Brazil presidential election.
Last month, the Supreme Court of Brazil ruled that social media companies could be held responsible for the material posted on their platforms.
In his letter, Trump also spoke to former Brazilian President Bolsoro and said that he “respected him very much”. He said that the ongoing trial against him is “an international insult”.
Trump and Bolsonaro enjoyed a friendly relationship when their chairmanship overlaped, with a pair meeting at the White House during Trump’s first term in 2019. Bolsono is often described as “Trump of the Tropics”.
Both men later lost the presidential election and both refused to accept the defeat in public.
Bolsono, who ruled Brazil between 2019 and 2022, has prosecuted in January 2023 for allegedly trying to make a coup with government buildings in the capital.
Bolsono was in the United States at that time and denied any link to any participation in rioters or plots.
Earlier this week, Trump compared Bolsoro’s prosecution to legal matters he has faced similarly.
“This is nothing more or less than an attack on a political rival – something about which I know a lot!” Trump said. In response, Bolsono thanked the US President for his support.
Trump was also important for the BRICS summit at Rio de Janeiro, where groups of developing countries met on Sunday. Trump called the group, including Brazil, “Anti-American” and said that an additional 10% tariff would be charged from those countries.
President Lula on Monday fired back against Trump’s social media threats.
“He needs to know that the world has changed,” said Lula. “We do not want an emperor.”
