Why Trump’s tariffs on Brazil are more about political retaliation than trade

Brazil thought it had gotten off lightly on the Trump tariff front.

In April, US President Donald Trump announced that Brazilian goods imported to the US would face tariffs of 10% – the lowest base rate applied to most countries.

Now, as the 90-day pause on those and other targeted US tariffs is set to expire, Trump has raised Brazil’s rate to a whopping 50% – potentially launching a trade war with Latin America’s biggest economy, which sells large amounts of beef, coffee, steel and other products to the United States.

The announcement on Wednesday means Brazil will face one of the highest US tariff rates in the world, at least so far. But this new policy isn’t even really about trade.

Earlier this month, Trump claimed the US runs a trade deficit with Brazil. In fact, it runs a multimillion-dollar surplus, meaning the United States sells more to Brazil than it buys.

This new tariff rate isn’t about levelling a trade playing field. It’s political, and part of a growing feud between the US and Brazil.

President Trump has framed these tariffs as retaliation over the prosecution of his ally, right-wing former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.

Bolsonaro is facing trial over an alleged coup attempt after losing the 2022 presidential election, when his supporters stormed government buildings in Brasilia. The case includes claims of a plot to kill President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who won the race.

Bolsonaro denies the charges and Trump has slammed them as a “witch-hunt”.