Donald Trump threatens to impose a 50 % tariff on Brazil

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Donald Trump threatened Brazil with tariffs of 50 percent and accused it of threatening freedom of expression, in a major escalation of tensions between the United States and the largest economy in Latin America.

In a letter published in Truth Social on Wednesday, Trump criticized in the government of Luiz Inácio LULA DA Silva on treatment BrazilFormer right -wing president Gear Bolsonaro.

Trump said Polsonaro, who is being tried because of an alleged coup plot, was “a very respectable leader all over the world during his term”, as he described the issue as “a charming chase that must end immediately!”

He added that tariffTo be effective from August 1, it will be “partial” due to “malicious attacks in Brazil on free elections and the basic rights of the Americans.”

The US President also accused the Supreme Court of Brazil of issuing “hundreds of orders of secret and illegal control against American social media platforms, threatening them with millions of dollars in fines and” evacuation “from the country.

Brazil’s currency decreased by 2.3 percent to $ 5.58 Malaysian dollars against the US dollar in the afternoon in New York. Futures in the Bowspa’s participation index extended their decrease after Trump’s announcement, leaving it by 2.3 percent in the evening in Sao Paulo.

The message to Brazil was the eighth that Trump posted on Wednesday and comes as part of a broader barn against 22 countries in recent days, as he put pressure on American commercial partners to conclude deals or confront the fees.

Earlier on Wednesday, Trump imposed a tariff raising between 25 percent and 30 percent on Algeria, Brunei, Iraq, Libya, Moldova, the Philippines and Sri Lanka. The messages followed 25 percent threats of the customs tariff in Japan and South Korea, among other things, on Monday.

But while other countries have received almost identical messages indicating “strength and commitment” of the relationship of the recipient’s trading with the United States, the message to the Latin Latin nation is the most intense population was significantly different.

The 50 % customs tariffs are much higher than the 10 percent tax imposed on Brazil as part of the “mutual” overall duties on April 2.

After Trump said earlier that he would announce a new import tax on Brazil, but before he revealed his rate by 50 percent, the Vice President of Brazil and the Minister of Trade Geraldo Alkain described the new tariff as “unfair” and said that his country had not posed any problem for the United States.

“I see no reason to increase the definitions of Brazil,” he told reporters in Brazilia. “The United States has a trade deficit, but it has a surplus with Brazil.”

The United States recorded a $ 7.4 billion goods trade surplus with the country in 2024, according to the American Trade Representative Office.

Alkainin said that the new customs tariff for Brazilian imports will harm the American economy and pointed to the example of steel.

“We are the third largest buyer for the coal of the American steel industry. We make the semi -polished product and sell it to the United States, which ends it. Therefore, by imposing taxes, it increases the cost of their supply chain.”

Brazilia called for an emergency cabinet meeting, according to local media reports.

The Trump explosion against the administration of the Left President had brought without the largest Democrats in the Americas closer to the diplomatic crisis.

The US President’s intervention in favor of Bolsonaro will chant the right -wing Brazil movement, which claims that the judicial campaign against digital wrong information is targeting the conservatives unrelently.

Public Prosecutors accused Polsonaro of planning a failed proposal claiming to be aimed at keeping power after losing an attempt to re -election in 2022 to Lula. The arduous right -wing populist denies any violations.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in May that Washington was Looking at penalties Against Brazil’s Supreme Court judges, Alexander de Morris, who ordered social media accounts that are considered to be deployed to be dropped.

judge Think with Elon Musk Last year on the X Billionaire platform and banned the website for a short time in Brazil.

Trump’s message to Brazil follows his threat with an additional 10 percent tariff against members of the BRICS, which is the South American nation as a founding member. On Sunday night, the Republic accused the group of developing countries “Anti -America policies”.

At the annual Brix summit held in Rio de Janeiro this week, Lula returned to warning and urged alternatives to the US dollar in trade – a proposal that Trump has already taken.

The Brazilian Foreign Ministry summoned the Acting US ambassador earlier in the day after a statement of the embassy expressing its support for Polsonaro.

The country’s Supreme Court refused to suspend.