Trump tariffs goods from Brazil at 50%, citing ‘witch hunt' trial against Bolsonaro
The Brazilian real dove more than two percent against the U.S. dollar on Wednesday (July 9, 2025) after President Donald Trump threatened tariffs of 50% on the country's goods.
Mr. Trump avoided his standard form letter with Brazil, specifically tying his tariffs to the trial of Bolsonaro, who is charged with trying to overturn his 2022 election loss. Mr. Trump has described Bolsonaro as a friend and hosted the former Brazilian president at his Mar-a-Lago resort when both were in power in 2020.
'This Trial should not be taking place,' Mr. Trump wrote in the letter posted on Truth Social. 'It is a Witch Hunt that should end IMMEDIATELY!'
Mr. Trump also objected to Brazil's Supreme Court fining of social media companies such as X, saying the temporary blocking last year amounted to 'SECRET and UNLAWFUL Censorship Orders.' Mr. Trump said he is launching an investigation as a result under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, which applies to companies with trade practices that are deemed unfair to U.S. companies.
The Brazil letter was a reminder that politics and personal relations with Mr. Trump matter just as much as any economic fundamentals. And while Mr. Trump has said the high tariff rates he's setting are based on trade imbalances, it was unclear by his Wednesday actions how the countries being targeted would help to reindustrialize America.
Trump also sent letters on Wednesday (July 9, 2025) to the leaders of seven other nations. None of them — the Philippines, Brunei, Moldova, Algeria, Libya, Iraq and Sri Lanka — is a major industrial rival to the United States.
Most economic analyses say the tariffs will worsen inflationary pressures and subtract from economic growth, but Mr. Trump has used the taxes as a way to assert the diplomatic and financial power of the U.S. on both rivals and allies. His administration is promising that the taxes on imports will lower trade imbalances, offset some of the cost of the tax cuts he signed into law on Friday and cause factory jobs to return to the United States.
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