Trump slaps 50% tariff on Brazilian imports, citing Bolsonaro trial

RIO DE JANEIRO (CN) — President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced a 50% tariff on all Brazilian products, citing the ongoing trial of Brazil’s former president Jair Bolsonaro before the country’s Supreme Court.

In a public letter addressed to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva announcing the sanction, Trump claimed that Brazil had violated Americans’ freedom of speech by restricting platforms like Rumble and Truth Social, and politically persecuting Bolsonaro.

“It is a witch hunt that must end immediately,” wrote the U.S. president, calling Bolsonaro’s trial “an international disgrace” and suggesting that the proceedings undermine Brazil’s democratic legitimacy.

Trump said the tariff hike would take effect on Aug. 1. It would quintuple the 10% rate established in April.

Although the formal argument for the hike rests on alleged trade imbalances, Trump’s letter suggests that the sanctions are also politically motivated.

In an official statement posted on social media, Lula reaffirmed Brazil’s sovereignty, called the threats unacceptable, and said the country “will respond accordingly.”

“The judicial process against those who planned the coup d’état falls exclusively within the jurisdiction of the Brazilian judiciary and, therefore, is not subject to any form of interference or threat that undermines the independence of national institutions,” Lula wrote, adding that, “in Brazil, freedom of expression is not to be confused with aggression or violent acts.”

Lula also disputed Trump’s trade figures. According to Lula, the U.S. has accumulated a surplus of over $410 billion in its trade balance with Brazil over the past 15 years — undermining the claim that the U.S. is being economically harmed. The statement also said Brazil may invoke its Economic Reciprocity Law in response.

Hours after the announcement, Brazil’s Foreign Ministry summoned Gabriel Escobar, chargé d’affaires at the U.S. Embassy in Brasília, to explain the move. The ministry called Trump’s letter an unacceptable interference in Brazil’s domestic affairs and stressed that decisions by the Supreme Court are constitutionally grounded.

While the Brazilian government scrambled to contain the diplomatic fallout, Bolsonaro’s allies celebrated the move. The Foreign Affairs Committee in Brazil’s lower house of Congress — chaired by Bolsonaro loyalists — passed a motion praising Trump on the same day the tariff was announced. The text describes Trump as “an example of a statesman committed to the values of freedom.”

Bolsonaro, for his part, published a message on social media once again casting himself as the victim of political persecution, without mentioning Trump or the tariffs.

“Jair Bolsonaro is persecuted because he remains alive in the popular consciousness,” he wrote. “Even out of power, he continues to be the most remembered — and the most feared. That’s why they try to annihilate him politically, morally, and judicially. Not out of justice, but out of fear.”

This persecution narrative has also been fueled by his son Eduardo Bolsonaro, who has spent the past few months in the U.S. lobbying against Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes. On unpaid leave from Congress and living in Florida since March, Eduardo Bolsonaro has attended conservative events, called for sanctions against Moraes, and asked for pardons for those involved in the Jan. 8 riots — which prompted the Supreme Court to launch an investigation into him on suspicion of obstruction of justice and threats to the rule of law.

Although Trump’s letter does not mention names, its clear target is Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who has ordered the blocking of digital platforms and the suspension of payments to pro-Bolsonaro influencers.

The Supreme Court has not officially responded. Justice Flávio Dino, in a message on social media, wrote that it is “an honor to serve on the Supreme Court, which protects democracy, rights, and freedoms under Brazil’s Constitution.”