President Trump said Wednesday he will hit Brazil with a 50 percent “reciprocal” tariff, partly out of anger over the criminal prosecution of former Brazilian President Bolsonaro.
“Maybe at some point I'll talk to him,” Trump told reporters Friday when asked when he would negotiate with Brazil. “Right now I'm not.”
Bolsonaro, Brazil’s previous president, lost the last election — but tried to stay in power through a failed coup.
The President said he also is directing US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer to launch a Section 301 unfair trade practices investigation against what he called Brazil’s attacks against US digital trade.
Mr. Trump sent a letter to current Brazilian President Lula da Silva that deviates sharply from the form letters he is sending to other trading partners assigning them tariffs rates.
He began the letter by calling the Bolsonaro trial a “witch hunt” that should be ended immediately. The letter then went into a litany of complaints against Brazil that Mr. Trump says justifies a 50 percent reciprocal tariff rate – the highest number he has assigned to far in his tariff letters.
“Due in part to Brazil’s insidious attacks on Free Elections, and the fundamental Free Speech Rights of Americas (as lately illustrated by the Brazilian Supreme Court, which has issued hundreds of SECRET and UNLAWFUL Censorship Orders to US Social Media platforms, threatening them with Millions of Dollars in Fines and Eviction from the Brazilian Social Media market), starting on August 1, 2025, we will charge Brazil a Tariff of 50% on any and all Brazilian products sent into the United States, separate from all Sectoral Tariffs. .
"Goods transhipped to evade this 50% Tariff will be subject to that higher Tariff,” according to the letter, which Mr. Trump posed on Truth Social.
According to the WTO, Brazil ships about 11.4 percent of its exports to the US, or about 2 percent of GDP.
Coffee, Oil and Steel lead Brazilian exports to the US, which has run a trade surplus with Latin America's largest economy since 2008. The US trade suplus with Brazil last year was $6.8bn.
Brazil’s Aerospace exports (aircraft, spacecraft, and parts) to the U.S. are a significant portion of its bilateral trade, with the aircraft/spacecraft segment accounting for about 6–7% of Brazil’s total exports to the U.S. (totaling roughly $40 billion in 2024.
It's unclear if US airlines will indeed pay an extra 50% for their regional Jets from Embraer, though no doubt Florida citrus interests are pleased.
Mr. Trump also issued another batch of tariff letters to seven countries Wednesday, with the biggest US trading partner out of the group – the Philippines – assigned a 20 percent “reciprocal” tariff rate. Brunei and Moldova each were given 25 percent rates, while the remaining four countries – Sri Lanka, Libya, Iraq and Afghanistan – all received 30 percent rates.
The letters were identical to the ones sent on Monday to 14 major trading partners.
The European Union has not received a letter yet while negotiations on a trade deal continue.
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (NY) took to the Senate floor to criticize the President’s tariff policy. He noted that the Yale Budget Lab estimates that the President’s tariffs could cost American families an extra $2,300 a year. “His tariffs are weakening America's standing on the world stage, because he always makes big threats only to back down. As we all know, Donald Trump always chickens out when it comes to tariffs,” he said. “So today, I urge Donald Trump to stop governing through chaos, and focus on a trade plan that actually will protect American workers while holding adversaries like China in check. He's failed to do that thus far.”
7/11 updated President's quote on talks with Brazil
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