Background of the Tariff Proposal

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said he received the decision “with indignation.” The Brazil president also blamed the decision by the US administration on his rival in October’s elections, Flávio Bolsonaro, the senator who visited Washington last week. The senator is the son of former president Jair Bolsonaro, once nicknamed “the Trump of the Tropics” by his allies.

The announcement late on Monday came after an investigation by the office of the US trade representative, charging Brazil with lax anti-corruption enforcement and unfair tariffs of its own, among other things.

The US has had a goods trade surplus with Brazil for years.

US Trade Representative Response

The US trade representative, Jamieson Greer, said that he and Donald Trump had “constructive” meetings with Lula and other Brazilian officials — But he said: “We continue to have substantial differences in resolving the issues identified in this investigation.”

Lula on Tuesday cited other reasons for the punishing tariff proposal — For the first time he named an American official as a hurdle to his relations with Trump and once again he threatened to retaliate.

“I spoke to President Trump for three hours, and that Marco Rubio guy, the head of the state department, he is anti-Latin American,” Lula said; “He is a deadly enemy of Cuba, a deadly enemy of many Latin American countries. I already told Trump that he does not like Brazil.”

The US state department did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Associated Press on Tuesday.

Brazil’s Government Statement

Brazil’s government said in a statement that its dialogue with American counterparts, which includes “personal involvement of Presidents Lula and Trump”, was being “sabotaged by merely electoral and family matters” of the Bolsonaros.

It added that it hoped “the recommendations do not become effective tariffs.”

“But we stress we will adopt every measure that is capable of reducing the damage that might be caused to the national economy, to the jobs and the income of Brazilians,” the country’s government said.

Last year. Trump had slapped Brazil with a 50% tariff, mainly to protest against its prosecution of Jair Bolsonaro for trying to overturn his electoral defeat in 2022. His relationship with Lula seemed to have improved in early May, when the Brazilian visited the White House.

But last week, the Trump administration designated two Brazilian gangs as terrorist organizations after Bolsonaro’s visit, though Lula opposes the designation, which analysts say could strengthen his political rival.

Greer’s office has scheduled a public hearing on 6 July on the proposed tariffs.

Ryan Majerus, a trade lawyer and partner at King & Spalding, said that the administration’s plan excludes more than half of US imports from Brazil, including aircraft and key minerals.

The Trump administration invoked section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 to launch the investigation into Brazil’s trade practices.