A container ship docked on the Port of Rio de Janeiro in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Thursday, July 10, 2025.
Dado Galdieri/Bloomberg through Getty Photos
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RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil — Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva says the U.S. should respect his nation — and he is able to impose retaliatory tariffs if President Donald Trump goes forward with a menace to slap a 50% tax on Brazilian imports beginning in Aug. 1.
Trump posted the warning in a letter on social media, citing what he referred to as a “witch hunt” in opposition to Brazil’s former far-right president Jair Bolsonaro, who’s presently on trial for making an attempt to overturn the 2022 election. Trump demanded the case be dropped, calling Bolsonaro “a Highly Respected Leader throughout the World.”
Lula stated in an interview posted to his offical media account that in the first place he thought the letter from Trump was a faux.
“The Brazilian people must be respected. Brazilian justice must be respected.” Lula stated, “We are a great, sovereign country with a historic tradition of diplomacy with all nations. Brazil will adopt the necessary measures to protect its people and its companies.”
The U.S. presently runs a commerce surplus with Brazil — not like most of the greater than 20 nations that additionally obtained tariff warning letters this week. Final 12 months alone, the U.S. exported extra to Brazil than it imported. That is why Lula referred to as Trump’s declare that the commerce relationship was “far from reciprocal” merely inaccurate.
Whereas Trump has issued comparable tariff threats to different nations, consultants say this case is totally different. Georgetown commerce coverage professor Marc Busch says utilizing tariffs as political stress over one other nation’s inner judicial proceedings is extremely provocative.
“Brazil taking this seriously may escalate in a dramatic and qualitatively different way than Trump has seen with other trade partners,” Busch stated.
Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Brazil’s president, throughout a information convention on the BRICS Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Monday, July 7, 2025.
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Lula says his authorities is exploring retaliation, although Brazil’s Finance Minister Fernando Haddad has tried to dial again tensions. In an interview, he stated any dispute “can and must be overcome through diplomacy.”
The previous few days has seen an escalation in rhetoric between the 2 leaders. Earlier within the week Brazil hosted a summit of the BRICS nations of rising economies — bringing collectively founding members Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, together with newcomers like Egypt and Indonesia. There, in a pointed response to Trump’s tariff threats in opposition to BRICS nations, Lula pushed again. “We don’t want an emperor — we are sovereign nations,” he stated.
The tariff threats have rattled Brazil’s exporters. Gláucio de Castro, a espresso farmer and head of a serious growers federation in Minas Gerais, stated that whereas he helps Trump’s politics, this transfer would harm Brazil’s economic system.
“I agree with Trump’s thinking,” he stated. “But it surely’s not proper to harm our nation commercially — it is actually dangerous to us. Brazil is the world’s largest exporter of espresso, and a steep tariff may spike costs for U.S. customers. The nation additionally exports plane, metal, and oil to the U.S., which means the fallout may stretch throughout a number of industries.
