Brazil rejects new US tariffs of 25 per cent on certain products
The presidency has pledged to defend Brazil’s ‘sovereignty’ and has categorically rejected all the ‘accusations’ levelled by Washington regarding ‘alleged unfair trade practices adopted by Brazil’
(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - The Brazilian presidency has rejected the US decision to impose 25 per cent tariffs on certain Brazilian products and has expressed its intention to respond to these ‘illegal and arbitrarily imposed’ tariffs. The administration of Donald Trump has announced these new tariffs against Latin America’s largest economy following an investigation by the United States Trade Representative (USTR), based on a 1974 law. Brasília has promised to implement ‘reciprocal’ measures under a law passed by Parliament last year. “There is no justification for unilateral measures against our country,” replied the office of Brazil’s left-wing president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in a statement published on X.
The presidency has pledged to defend Brazil’s ‘sovereignty’ and has categorically rejected all the ‘accusations’ levelled by Washington regarding ‘alleged unfair trade practices adopted by Brazil’. The US investigation covers a wide range of issues, including efforts to combat corruption, the protection of intellectual property, illegal deforestation and judicial decisions aimed at combating disinformation on social media.
“In Brazil, we will not give up on protecting our families and our children from the greed of a handful of techno-oligarchs. Freedom of expression is not a licence for criminality,” stated the Brazilian presidency. With just three months to go until Brazil’s presidential election in October – in which Lula is seeking re-election – the Brazilian government also singled out, in its statement, the family of former right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro (2019–2022), who is serving a 27-year prison sentence for an attempted coup.
The “deplorable outcome” of the US investigation “is part of a scenario orchestrated with the active collaboration of the Bolsonaro family”, the authorities claimed, denouncing the “false patriots”. Bolsonaro’s sons had supported the tariffs imposed by Washington on Brazil last year, measures which were subsequently largely revoked. This time, however, the former president’s eldest son, Flavio Bolsonaro – who is standing for president against Lula – had asked the US to withdraw the tariffs, arguing that they would boost his rival’s electoral prospects. Red-Fla-
