As South Africa struggles to conceive a response to an impending tariff hike on exports to the United States, BRICS partner Brazil has shown no such hesitation.
Brazil faces tariffs of 50% on its exports to the US. Brazil’s president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, convened its ministers to plan a response. This would, he said, he guided by the country’s Law of Economic Reciprocity. This authorises Brazil’s authorities to take measures against trade partners threatening the country with economic hardship.
In the letter addressed to Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Trump foregrounded political grievances against the Brazilian government. The opening lines of the letter expressed admiration for former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who is currently facing trial in Brazil. This, said Trump, was a “witch hunt” that should end immediately.
He went on to say that the Brazilian Supreme Court had imposed “unlawful” censorship orders against US social media platforms.
He then continued to announce the imposition of tariffs, in terms similar to those that he used in respect of South Africa.
Brazilian government data suggests that the US actually runs a trade surplus with Brazil.
[Image: By Palácio do Planalto from Brasilia, Brasil – Foto Oficial do Presidente da República, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=129123987]