{"id":2430,"date":"2025-07-10T07:50:40","date_gmt":"2025-07-10T07:50:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/trump-slaps-50pc-steel-tariff-on-brazil-in-retaliation-for-bolsonaro-trial-lula-hits-back-over-interference\/"},"modified":"2025-07-10T07:50:40","modified_gmt":"2025-07-10T07:50:40","slug":"trump-slaps-50pc-steel-tariff-on-brazil-in-retaliation-for-bolsonaro-trial-lula-hits-back-over-interference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/trump-slaps-50pc-steel-tariff-on-brazil-in-retaliation-for-bolsonaro-trial-lula-hits-back-over-interference\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump slaps 50pc steel tariff on Brazil in retaliation for Bolsonaro trial, Lula hits back over \u2018interference\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Brasília, July 10 — Brazil and the United States escalated their row yesterday over President Donald Trump’s support for coup-accused former leader Jair Bolsonaro, with the American president slapping a 50 per cent tariff on one of its main steel suppliers.<\/p>\n

Leftist Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva threatened to reciprocate.<\/p>\n

Trump has strongly criticised the prosecution of right-wing ally Bolsonaro, who is on trial for allegedly plotting to cling on to power after losing the 2022 election to Lula.<\/p>\n

Brasília on Wednesday summoned Washington’s top envoy to the country to explain an embassy statement describing Bolsonaro as a victim of “political persecution” — echoing Trump’s claims of a “witch hunt” against the 70-year-old Brazilian firebrand.<\/p>\n

Trump then announced he would slap a 50 per cent tariff on Brazilian imports starting August 1, citing “Brazil’s insidious attacks on Free Elections” and warning of escalation if the country retaliates.<\/p>\n

In a letter addressed to Lula, Trump criticised the treatment of Bolsonaro as an “international disgrace” and said the trial “should not be taking place.”<\/p>\n

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He added Washington would launch an investigation into Brazil’s trade practices.<\/p>\n

While Trump has been issuing letters to trading partners — focusing on those his country runs a deficit with — Brazil had until now not been among those threatened with higher duties come August 1.<\/p>\n

The South American powerhouse is the second-largest exporter of steel to the United States after Canada, shipping four million tonnes of the metal in 2024.<\/p>\n

Lula wrote on X that “any unilateral tariff increases will be addressed in light of the Brazilian Law of Economic Reciprocity.”<\/p>\n

On Monday, Trump angered Lula by urging Brazilian authorities to “LEAVE BOLSONARO ALONE,” in a post on social media.<\/p>\n

“They have done nothing but come after him, day after day, night after night, month after month, year after year!” the US president wrote.<\/p>\n

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Lula, who narrowly beat Bolsonaro in a divisive election in 2022, hit back at Trump’s “interference,” insisting that “no one is above the law.”<\/p>\n

Bolsonaro denies he was involved in an attempt to wrest power back from Lula as part of an alleged coup plot that prosecutors say failed only for a lack of military backing.<\/p>\n

After the plot fizzled, rioting supporters known as “Bolsonaristas” raided government buildings in 2023 as they urged the military to oust Lula. Bolsonaro was abroad at the time.<\/p>\n

The case against Bolsonaro carries echoes of Trump’s prosecution over the January 6, 2021 attacks by his supporters on the US Capitol to try and reverse his election loss.<\/p>\n

Trump pleaded not guilty, and the case was abandoned when he was re-elected president.<\/p>\n

The cases have drawn the Trump and Bolsonaro families together, with the Brazilian ex-leader’s sons lobbying for US sanctions against one of the Supreme Court judges sitting on the ex-president’s trial.<\/p>\n

In his post on Monday, Trump suggested Bolsonaro was the favourite in presidential elections next year, despite him being banned from running for spreading disinformation about Brazil’s voting system.<\/p>\n

Bolsonaro thanked Trump for his defence of “peace, justice and liberty” in a social media post.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, the US embassy in Brasília issued a statement to “reinforce” Trump’s support for the embattled former army captain, who risks a 40-year prison sentence.<\/p>\n

“Jair Bolsonaro and his family have been strong partners of the United States,” read the note.<\/p>\n

“The political persecution against him, his family, and his followers is shameful and disrespects Brazil’s democratic traditions.”<\/p>\n

Members of the BRICS grouping, meeting in Brazil under host Lula this week, criticised Trump’s imposition of import tariffs and his bombing of Iran.<\/p>\n

This drew the US president’s ire and a threat of 10 per cent additional tariffs on each BRICS-aligned country.<\/p>\n

Lula insisted BRICS members were sovereign and did not want an “emperor.” — AFP<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Trump slaps 50pc steel tariff on Brazil in retaliation for Bolsonaro trial, Lula hits back over ‘interference’<\/sub><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Brasília, July 10 — Brazil and the United States escalated their row yesterday over President Donald Trump’s support for coup-accused former leader Jair Bolsonaro, with the American president slapping a 50 per cent tariff on one of its main steel suppliers. Leftist Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva threatened to reciprocate. Trump has strongly…<\/p>\n

Read More “Trump slaps 50pc steel tariff on Brazil in retaliation for Bolsonaro trial, Lula hits back over \u2018interference\u2019”<\/span> »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2431,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2430","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2430","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2430"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2430\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2431"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2430"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2430"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2430"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}