The Trump administration is moving to impose a 25% tariff on Brazilian imports, invoking what it calls "unreasonable" trade practices that harm American commerce, even as the United States maintains a significant goods trade surplus with the South American nation.
The proposal, announced late Monday by US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, follows an investigation that found Brazil engaged in lax anti-corruption enforcement and imposed unfair tariffs of its own. The US has consistently sold more goods to Brazil than it buys from the country, with last year's trade surplus exceeding $14 billion on a surge in American exports.
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva responded with fury, framing the decision as politically motivated. He blamed the tariff proposal on Flávio Bolsonaro, the senator and son of former president Jair Bolsonaro, who visited Washington last week. Lula also singled out Secretary of State Marco Rubio, calling him anti-Latin American and an obstacle to better US-Brazil relations.
The timing suggests domestic politics may be influencing the trade action. Bolsonaro, once Trump's ideological ally, currently faces prosecution in Brazil for attempting to overturn his electoral loss in 2022. His recent trip to meet American officials, during which Trump posted a photo of the Bolsonaros in the Oval Office, drew Lula's ire. The president accused the family of being "traitors" and "sellouts" for seeking foreign interference in Brazilian affairs.
Greer acknowledged holding "constructive" meetings with Lula and other Brazilian officials but said "substantial differences" remain on the issues flagged by the investigation. The administration invoked Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 to launch the probe, a legal mechanism that has survived court challenges where other Trump tariff powers have not.
Brazil's government stated it hopes the recommendations "do not become effective tariffs" but pledged to "adopt every measure" to protect its economy and workforce if they do. The country noted that dialogue between the presidents is being "sabotaged by merely electoral and family matters."
The proposed tariffs exclude more than half of US imports from Brazil, including aircraft and critical minerals. A public hearing is scheduled for July 6 to debate the proposal further.
This marks the latest escalation in Trump's tariff strategy following a Supreme Court decision in February that blocked his use of emergency powers under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to impose broad tariffs. Section 301 authority has proven more durable in court, making it an attractive tool for the administration to pursue new trade restrictions and recoup revenue lost from the previous ruling.
Lula has signaled willingness to retaliate and pointed out Brazil's trade imbalance with the US, noting that China has been the country's largest trading partner for roughly a decade. "I am not going to cry about it," he said. "If they don't want to buy from us, we will sell to someone else."
Author James Rodriguez: "Trump's using tariffs to settle scores and boost an ally's presidential hopes, but the numbers tell a story he can't ignore: America is already winning on Brazil trade."
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