In a move with few precedents in international politics, Donald Trump decided to interfere in Brazil’s justice system and announced the imposition of a 50% tariff on products from that country due to the trial against former president Jair Bolsonaro, accused of attempted coup.
Already on the eve, the American president had said, “Brazil treats former president Jair Bolsonaro terribly. They have only been persecuting him day after day, night after night. He has not committed any crime, except for fighting for his people.”
What does the letter that Trump sent to President Lula de Silva say?
“I have known and dealt with former President Jair Bolsonaro, and I have respected him a lot, as did most leaders of other countries. The way Brazil has treated him (...) a highly respected leader in the world during his term, including the United States, is an international disgrace. The trial should not take place. It is a witch hunt that must end immediately,” said in a letter to Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Trump also pointed out that the imposition of tariffs on Brazilian products is due in part to Brazil’s “malicious attacks on electoral freedom, and fundamental rights of freedom of expression.” In this regard, he cited as an example the “hundreds of secret and illegal censorship orders issued against American social media platforms,” which the Brazilian Supreme Court has “threatened with million-dollar fines and expulsion from the Brazilian market.”
Apart from his interference in the Brazilian justice system, the Republican president asked Lula to “understand” that this tax is “a figure much lower than what is needed to have equal conditions” that they “must have with his country”. “It is necessary to rectify the serious injustices of the current regime,” Trump said, before adding that there would be no tariffs in case Brazilian companies decided to move to U.S. territory.
Lula declared on social media that Brazil is a sovereign country, with independent institutions, and that they do not accept the guardianship of anyone.
It also emphasized that “any unilateral tariff increase will be governed by Brazil’s Economic Reciprocity Law”. This law authorizes the Executive Branch to adopt countermeasures such as import restrictions on goods and services or measures that suspend commercial and investment concessions, as explained by Globo.
The US president threatened the president of Brazil, stating that if Brasilia decides to increase its tariffs against the United States in response, Washington will implement a new hike.
Tariffs against half the world
Hours earlier, Trump had announced tariffs against the Philippines, Algeria, Iraq, Libya, Sri Lanka, Brunei, and Moldova as part of the trade war he unleashed months ago and in anticipation of the individualized tariffs by country taking effect on August 1st.
In recent days, measures have also been communicated regarding tariffs against Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Kazakhstan, Tunisia, South Africa, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Indonesia, Serbia, Bangladesh, Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar (Burma), and Laos.