Brazil's government pushed back sharply Thursday against Washington's plan to slap 25% tariffs on a range of its products, rejecting findings that it had engaged in unfair trade practices and suggesting the move was politically motivated ahead of the country's October elections.
The Trump administration said it concluded a year-long investigation into Brazilian trade conduct and found multiple violations, including weak anti-corruption enforcement and unreasonable tariffs of its own. The levies take effect July 22, though some goods escape the hit, including coffee, beef, orange juice, select energy products and aerospace components.
Lula's office released a statement denouncing the decision as baseless. "The Brazilian government repudiates the decision announced today by the United States government regarding the imposition of 25 percent tariffs on Brazilian products," it said, flatly denying any unfair trade activity.
Jamieson Greer, the US trade representative, defended the action as necessary for competitive fairness. "Extensive negotiations with Brazil over the past year have not resolved these issues, but we remain open to continuing negotiations with Brazil to bring about long-needed changes to the problems identified in this investigation," he said.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio struck a harder tone, accusing Lula of negotiating in bad faith. "Let there be no confusion about why: President Lula and his government have not negotiated with the US in good faith. His economic policies are bad for Americans and bad for Brazilians. For the past year, Lula has put his own ego ahead of making a deal for the welfare of the Brazilian people, and these tariffs are the price for that," Rubio said.
The timing proved contentious. After US officials signaled the tariff threat in June, Lula lashed out publicly, alleging political scheming and pointing fingers at Flávio Bolsonaro, a rival in the October election and son of ex-president Jair Bolsonaro. Flávio had recently visited Washington and remains close to Trump.
The tariffs rest on different legal footing than Trump's earlier Brazil actions. In February, the Supreme Court struck down many Trump tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, ruling he had overstepped his authority. That decision reversed his 50% Brazil tariff imposed over the country's prosecution of Jair Bolsonaro on charges related to his attempt to overturn his 2022 election loss.
This new round uses Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, which grants the president broader leeway to penalize trading partners deemed unfair. Relations between Trump and Lula appeared warmer when the Brazilian leader visited the White House in May, but tensions have clearly resurfaced.
Notably, the US has run a goods trade surplus with Brazil for years, undercutting some of the administration's fairness arguments.
Author James Rodriguez: "The shift to Section 301 authority shows Trump learned from his court losses and found a cleaner legal pathway to muscle Brazil. But Lula's election-year grievances aren't baseless either."
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