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Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva clapped back at President Donald Trump Wednesday night following the announcement that he would be slapping the South American nation with a 50% tariff.
In a letter sent to the Brazilian president this week, Trump said Lula da Silva could expect the tariffs to go into effect on Aug. 1 in a move to establish “the Level Playing Field we must have with your Country” and “to rectify the grave injustices of the current regime.”
Trump has taken particular issue with the case levied against former President Jair Bolsonaro, an ally of Trump’s, and who is facing trial for an attempted coup after he lost the 2022 election.
TRUMP ANNOUNCES SWEEPING 50% TARIFF ON ALL BRAZILIAN IMPORTS STARTING AUG. 1
Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva speaks during a press conference at the BRICS summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on July 7, 2025. (PABLO PORCIUNCULA/AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)
Trump has claimed that Bolsonaro is innocent and called the prosecution a “witch hunt,” pushing the Brazilian president to drop the case or face stiff tariffs from its second-largest trading partner behind China.
Lula da Silva refuted Trump’s arguments and said, “The claim regarding a U.S. trade deficit in its commercial relationship with Brazil is inaccurate.”
TRUMP THREATENS ADDITIONAL 10% TARIFFS ON ‘ANTI-AMERICAN’ BRICS NATIONS
US President Donald Trump arrives to take part in a joint press conference with Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro in the Rose Garden at the White House on Mar. 19, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Jim JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)
“Statistics from the U.S. government itself show a surplus of $410 billion in the trade of goods and services with Brazil over the past 15 years,” he said in a statement posted on X Wednesday evening. “Therefore, any unilateral tariff increases will be addressed in accordance with Brazil’s Economic Reciprocity Law.”
Lula da Silva also rejected Trump’s push to end the charges levied against his ally and said, “Brazil is a sovereign nation with independent institutions and will not accept any form of tutelage.”
President Donald Trump holds a chart as he delivers remarks on reciprocal tariffs during an event in the Rose Garden entitled “Make America Wealthy Again” at the White House in Washington, DC, on Apr. 2, 2025. (BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)
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“The judicial proceedings against those responsible for planning the coup d’état fall exclusively under the jurisdiction of Brazil´s Judicial Branch and, as such, are not subject to any interference or threats that could compromise the independence of national institutions,” he added.
The now apparent trade war between Brazil and the U.S. comes as other nations are scrambling to ease tariffs enforced by Trump earlier this year as the original July 8 deadline has come and gone.
