Brazil has now also received mail from US President Trump with the new customs regulations. The country should pay the highest value of 50 percent so far for the import of products to the USA – for domestic reasons.
US President Donald Trump has announced tariffs of 50 percent against Brazil. The US import duties on Brazilian products are to come into force on August 1st. Trump justified the step in a letter to the leadership in Brasilia with the procedure of the Brazilian judiciary against former President Jair Bolsonaro. This was highly respected in his reign. The trial of him is a “witch hunt that must end immediately”.
The US President had already accused the Brazilian judiciary an “attack on a political opponent” in the past few days. He also criticized the alleged “censorship” of US online platforms in the country.
The US embassy in Brasilia published a statement to the local press on Wednesday, in which she joined Trump’s statements. “The political persecution of Jair Bolsonaro, his family and his supporters is shameful and disrespectful towards the democratic traditions of Brazil”, the US message press office wrote in a statement in Portuguese.
Coupon allegations against Brazil’s ex-president
Bolsonaro was in office from 2019 to 2022, before he was narrowly against Lula in a runoff election. According to the federal police, Bolsonaro is said to have tried to pour the military into a coup after its election defeat in 2022. Bolsonaro is also said to be responsible for the plan of a coup d’état, with which Lula should be prevented from taking over the office.
On January 1, 2023, Bolsonaro supporters in the capital Brasilia stormed the congress, the president’s office and the Supreme Court and caused serious devastation.
Bolsonaro himself rejects all the allegations and plans his political comeback in the presidential election in the coming year, although he is not allowed to run until 2030 because of his conviction in another procedure. In the event of a conviction in the coup process, the right-wing politician threatens up to 40 years in prison.
Lula criticism at the Brics summit
Before the customs announcement, Trump had said before reporters in the White House that Brazil was “not good at all” to the United States. The Brazilian economy is a heavyweight in Latin America.
The escalation also goes back to a dispute from Sunday when Trump criticized the BRICS group from Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa in Rio de Janeiro. He described the group as “anti -American” and threatened member countries with additional tariffs of ten percent.
Lula then said on Monday at the end of the summit when he was asked by reporters to Trump’s customs threats: “The world has changed. We don’t want an imperator.” The nations are confident. “If he believes that he can collect tariffs, other countries have the right to also collect tariffs.”
New customs letters ensure annoyance
Trump had sent customs letters to 21 other countries since Tuesday, including important trading partners such as Japan and South Korea. In it, he announced surcharges between 20 and 40 percent.
Hours earlier, Trump had already announced another thrust of letters. The European Union has not yet been among them. The new letters were addressed to Iraq, Libya, Algeria, Moldova, Philippines, Brunei and Sri Lanka. Since Monday, the US President has made the new customs rules known for goods to the United States. He justifies the tariffs with a previous imbalance.
Effects on US consumers
The Brazilian food industry expects a significant impact on US consumers due to the announced punitive tariffs. The Cecafé Coffee Exporter Association said that the burden would bear US users. The Association of Exporters of Citrus fruits, Citrusbr, said that the measure meets not only Brazil, but also the US juice industry. The beef association Abty spoke of an obstacle to international trade.
Brazil is the world’s largest coffee producer and delivers around a third of the coffee consumed in the USA. In addition, more than half of the orange juice sold in the USA comes from the South American country.
