President Donald Trump announced a 50% import tax on goods from Brazil, the Associated Press reports, singling out the country for its treatment of former president Jair Bolsonaro, who is on trial after being charged with trying to overturn his 2022 election loss.
Trump referred to the trial as a “witch hunt” in a letter posted on Truth Social and addressed to Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who responded that Trump’s tariffs would trigger Brazil’s economic reciprocity law. This allows trade, investment and intellectual property agreements to be suspended against countries that harm Brazil’s competitiveness.
He also noted that the U.S. over the last 15 years has had a trade surplus of over $410 billion with Brazil.
