Quite reasonable percentages until Wednesday evening. President Donald Trump posted on his Truth Social profile the letter on trade tariffs he sent to Brazil, in which he talks about a 50% tariff on all products exported from August 1 and threatens to double it in the event of retaliation.
The White House chief defended the figure by arguing that Brazil is attacking “Free Elections, and the fundamental Free Speech Rights of Americans,” accusing the Brazilian Supreme of taking “illegal “against US social media platforms.” The Brazilian Supreme Court banned X last year for 2 months over claims of disinformation on the platform. Trump also denounced the treatment of former President Jair Bolsonaro, who is facing charges for organizing an attempted coup in 2022, a trial that he called “an international disgrace” on Truth Social. The president continued: “This Trial should not be taking place. It is a Witch Hunt that should end IMMEDIATELY!”
In response, current Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva called an emergency meeting in Parliament. Present were Finance Minister Fernando Haddad, Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira, Chancellor Mauro Vieira, and Minister of Development, Industry, Trade, and Services and Brazilian Vice President Geraldo Alckmin, who said he thought the president was “misinformed.”
Meanwhile, a dozen other countries have already received a letter about the trade tariffs that the United States intends to apply from August 1. The European Union is absent from this list. The ambassadors of the 27 member countries have been meeting in Brussels since the beginning of the week to find common ground. According to the Financial Times, the EU is ready to sign a temporary agreement setting reciprocal tariffs at 10%. However, Trump may want to raise the figure higher than that agreed with the United Kingdom, the only country other than Vietnam to have already signed an agreement with the White House.
