Brazilian president says ‘if he charges us 50%, we’ll charge him 50%’ after Trump cited trial of Bolsonaro to justify tariff
Brazil threatened to hit back against Donald Trump’s plan to introduce 50% tariffs on its exports with its own 50% tariff on US goods, setting the stage for a precipitous trade war.
“If he charges us 50%, we’ll charge him 50%,” Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the Brazilian president, told local news outlet Record, a day after Trump threatened to impose steep duties on Brazilian goods and accused the country of conducting a “witch-hunt” against its former president Jair Bolsonaro, who is facing a trial over his attempt to overturn his 2022 election defeat.
Brazil could appeal to the World Trade Organization, propose international investigations and “demand explanations”, Lula suggested. “But the main thing is the Reciprocity Law, passed by Congress,” he told Record, referring to recent legislation designed to defend Latin America’s largest economy from tariff attacks.
Part of BRICS is about bypassing use of the U.S. dollar. And with the U.S. dollar faltering right now it’s the best time to shove it back at us and let the U.S. make mistakes with trade partners. Also Brasil didn’t do anything to the U.S. to get these threats. Also I believe Brasil made a recipretory law for just this purpose within the last year. So the Trump administration knew they would receive tarrifs back.
Lula’s popularity was also very low and it was a serious concern for next year’s election.
We were already seeing some changes in discourse from his government to try to recover from it, and Trump just handled him a perfect opportunity to show some backbone and win back part of the electorate.
Tarcicio, the rights most likely candidate is going to be in a hard spot from now on, he sides with Brazil against US interference on local issues and lost Bolsonaro and his lackies support, or sides with the US and Bolsonaro and strengthen Lulas position as the only one capable of defending Brazil’s sovereignty
Yeah, it’s entirely possible that Trump has just given next year’s election to Lula on a silver platter.
Maybe they can form the Western Hemisphere anti-cunt organization with Canada and Mexico (WHACO) against indiscriminate tariffs and political interference.