Trump sets 50% tariff rate for Brazil, blasting treatment of former far-right president

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Trump posted the letter to social media Wednesday afternoon, his 22nd such letter this week. However, this letter departed markedly from the others Trump has posted. All of the other letters were similar, telling countries that the new tariffs were intended to rectify trade imbalances with the U.S.

The letter to Brazil, however, was about Brazilian politics. Trump wrote that the Brazilian tariffs are needed in part "to rectify the grave injustices of the current regime," and in particular what Trump called a "Witch Hunt" against former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.

Bolsonaro is currently on trial for allegations that he and allies planned a coup in an attempt to stay in power after the far-right president lost in a reelection bid against the leftist Lula da Silva in 2022.

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"We don't want an emperor, we are sovereign countries," Lula said in a speech. "It's not right for a president of a country the size of the United States to threaten the world online."

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https://www.npr.org/2025/07/09/nx-s1-5462903/trump-brazil-tariff-bolsonaro