Trump announces 50% tariff on Brazil
Washington, July 10 (Hibya) – Donald Trump announced on Wednesday that his administration would impose a 50% tariff on products shipped from Brazil to the U.S., linking the move to the "witch hunt" case launched against former president Jair Bolsonaro.
Publishing letters on Truth Social, the former U.S. president earlier in the day targeted seven countries — the Philippines, Brunei, Moldova, Algeria, Libya, Iraq, and Sri Lanka — due to strict export tariffs set to begin on August 1.
On Wednesday afternoon, Trump refrained from issuing a standard letter to Brazil and instead criticized the case brought against Bolsonaro, who is facing charges for attempting to reverse his 2022 election defeat. Trump described Bolsonaro as a friend and recalled hosting him at the Mar-a-Lago resort in 2020 when both were in office.
“This case should not be pursued,” Trump wrote in the letter published Wednesday on Truth Social. “This is a WITCH HUNT that must END IMMEDIATELY!”
He added that the 50% tariffs on Brazil would be "separate from all sectoral tariffs."
Following the news, Brazil’s currency, the real, fell by more than 2% against the dollar.
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva rejected both Trump’s request to halt legal proceedings against Bolsonaro and the claim that a non-existent trade deficit necessitated a 50% tariff on Brazilian imports.
In a statement published on social media and the official government website, the Brazilian president responded point by point to the claims made in Trump’s Wednesday letter.
British News Agency
Facebook
Tweeter
Whatsapp
