Trump Sets Tariffs on Brazil at 50%

President Donald Trump said that Brazil will face the highest tariff rates of any country he’s dealt with this week.

Trump on Wednesday posted on social media a copy of a letter addressed to Brazil’s president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. The letter said that goods shipped to the U.S. from Brazil will face a 50% tariff starting August 1, significantly higher than the 10% tariff currently imposed on the country’s goods.

Trump mentioned trade barriers in his letter to Brazil’s president, akin to his letters recently sent to some other trading partners. This one went further, addressing Brazil’s domestic politics in saying the tariff was “due in part to Brazil’s attacks on Free Elections.”

Brazil’s former President Jair Bolsonaro is charged with planning a coup after his 2022 election loss. Trump in his letter called Brazil’s treatment of Bolsonaro an “international disgrace” and said the trial “should not be taking place.”

The U.S. had a trade surplus with Brazil last year, according to the U.S. Trade Representative, with exports nearing $50 billion and imports above $42 billion.

This is the latest of the letters Trump has been posting on social media so far this week, delaying the implementation of more extreme “Liberation Day” tariffs that had been scheduled for Wednesday.

Many of the tariff rates in other letters were similar to the ones announced in early April. Brazil was not subject to much higher “reciprocal tariffs” when the import taxes were initially announced.